12/6: Truth ministry; new head of Stephens operations; more

DELIVERING FOOD: Students, faculty and staff at Georgia Gwinnett College participated in today’s 11Alive Can-A-Thon. Students from GGC delivered more than 3,000 food items to the event at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth. A competition among registered student organizations was won by the National Society of Leadership and Success and the Volleyball Club, which together collected nearly 2,000 items. These happy GGC students, faculty and staff representatives are delivering the food items to the Can-A-Thon.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Truth Ministry Has Special Partner in 72 Pound Golden Retriever

EEB PERSPECTIVE: Mitchell Stephens Now Heading John D. Stephens, Inc. Operations

SPOTLIGHT: Infinite Energy Center

FEEDBACK: Here Are More Details on Times When Georgia Cities Were Chartered

UPCOMING:  Tech guru to speak at GGC fall graduation

NOTABLE: Chris Walker Named Volunteer of the Year by the City of Sugar Hill

RECOMMENDED: Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Savannah River Grows With Importance for Commercial Purposes

TODAY’S QUOTE: Always Wondering Which One of These Characters Would Show Up

MYSTERY PHOTO: Three Obvious Clues May Help You Solve This Mystery Photo

LAGNIAPPE: GACS Math Team Wins Second in 32nd Mercer Math Competition

Truth ministry has special partner in 72-pound golden retriever

By Scarlett Rigsby, Lawrenceville, Ga.  |  “Building relationships.” “No us and them.” “Meeting others where they are.” “It all counts”….these are statements frequently heard when the mission of Nothing but the Truth Ministry is explained.

I founded Nothing but the Truth as a charitable 501c3 in 2010 with the idea that it would seek to understand the needs of the community and then to mobilize ministry partners to meet those needs.  What began as a small Bible study in a room of a local extended stay hotel has grown rapidly into a multi-faceted ministry.  In 2013, the Nothing but the Truth’s Ministry Center opened its offices on Langley Drive near downtown Lawrenceville.  It is centrally located near several low-income housing options.

Currently, the Weekend Food Bag ministry is serving over 650 children every week in 33 Gwinnett County schools.  These elementary and middle school students have been identified by their school counselors as being in need of extra food on the weekends and during school holidays.  An army of volunteers packs and delivers these bags every Thursday morning.

• Another ministry of our group is the Tuesday morning ESL (English as a Second Language) program. It is currently assisting over 40 individuals as they work to learn English. These adult students are motivated by their desire to help their children succeed in school and in other daily activities.
• A Homework Help Ministry on Monday nights assists children from a local mobile home park.
• “Life Conversation Groups” are held on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Participants and volunteers share a meal together before studying the Bible with their respective age groups.

I am blessed to have an unconventional ministry partner … a beautiful Golden Retriever named “Truth,” who weighs 72 pounds and will be seven years old in January. I’ve had Truth since she was eight weeks old. I had another Golden Retriever while working as a YMCA Program Director. I knew that a dog could help to break down barriers and begin conversations.  Truth has been a part of many community activities including “Christmas in Dacula” and several summer Vacation Bible Schools.  She has visited schools, nursing homes and churches to help spread the word, in her own way, about the needs in the community.

Recently we learned of a need for feminine products for girls in some of the local schools.  Originally piloted in three schools by The Gwinnett Coalition, the “Swag Bag Project” is a “community ministry partnership providing access to feminine hygiene products and health information to middle and high school girls living in poverty in Gwinnett County.”  Nothing but the Truth recently took over this program and has already expanded it to four additional schools.

Today, the Truth’s Place Ministry Center also houses Truth’s Community Clinic (www.truthsclinic.org).  Formerly known as the Hebron Community Health Center, the clinic provides basic medical and dental care on a limited basis.  The addition of the clinic has helped to truly make the ministry center a place that serves the entire person by meeting physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

Officers of the Nothing but the Truth include Tammy Lawwell of Buford, chair of the board; Carol Baker of Buford, secretary; and Teresa Welborn, of Bethlehem, treasurer.

Nothing but the Truth is always looking for ministry partners to join the team.  Visit the website at www.nothingbutthetruth146.org or e-mail send an email at info@nothingbutthetruth.org to learn how you can be involved.

• Have a comment? Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Mitchell Stephens now heading John D. Stephens, Inc. operations

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher |  A long time Gwinnett enterprise has another person in charge these days, though the company operates much the same as before. The company is John D. Stephens Inc., run for years by John D. himself of Snellville.  Today his former companies are run by his youngest son, Mitchell, 47, while the father concentrates his efforts in another company with work around the Atlanta Airport.

John D.’s current firm is known as Stephens Industries, and focuses on a mining operation, rock quarry and landfill near the Atlanta airport. This firm was known for moving tremendous amounts of dirt and rock for the fifth airport runway, and did it with an innovative conveyor instead of using trucks.

Mitchell Stephens’s three companies employ about 150 people working out of Lawrenceville, and are:

• John D. Stephens Inc., a pipeline contractor. The majority of this work is within 250 miles of its offices, and includes pipeline of ductile iron, steel, reinforced concrete and pre-stress concrete cylinder pipe.
• JDS Blasting LLC offers certified blasting crews with mass rock and trench blasting for site development, road infrastructure projects and pipeline projects.
• Metro Green Recycling, diverting construction and demolition debris from landfills to the construction industry.

John D. had three sons, all with the MDS initials. The oldest, Mike, is more into real estate these days, while Mark works primarily with heavy equipment near the airport.

Mitchell Stephens

Mitchell started working with the companies part time, his earliest work at the age of 13. He’s come up from being initially a laborer, and put time in all the facets of the many businesses. He grew up in Snellville, and eventually graduated from Southern Tech in 1993 with a degree in civil engineering technology.

Early on he worked on Stephens pipeline projects from Virginia to Texas. By 2001 he was running all the construction operations in the Metro Atlanta area, and in 2005, became president of John D. Stephens Inc.

In addition to his business operations, he’s been active in the Georgia and Gwinnett business and civic community. He was on the board of directors of the Georgia Utility Contractor’s Association from 2005 to 2012. He was president of this board in 2010-2011, and currently sits on the Blasting Advisory Board for the Georgia Insurance Commissioner.

Locally, he is a member of the boards of the Gwinnett Children’s Shelter; Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, the Joint Development Authority of DeKalb, Gwinnett and Newton Counties; the Gwinnett Medical Foundation, and is a member of the Chairman’s Club of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.  He stays busy, in work, and in giving back his time to his communities.

Mitchell was born at Georgia Baptist Hospital, and lived in Gwinnett most of his life. He and his wife, the former Jennifer Dorsey of Lilburn, now live in Atlanta, more central to his work, and have three daughters, ages 18, 15 and 14. They attend 12 Stone Church.  The couple enjoy travel, and have enjoyed particularly trips to Italy, France and Japan.

As to the future, Mitchell likes to look at business matters which are diamonds in the rough “and make something better out of them.”

It’s good to see a second generation taking over one of Gwinnett’s premier businesses.

• Have a comment?  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Infinite Energy Center

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum to you at no cost to readers. Today’s underwriter is Infinite Energy Center, home to four distinct facilities in Duluth: Infinite Energy Arena, Infinite Energy Theater, Infinite Energy Forum, and The Hudgens Center for the Arts. Infinite Energy Arena has had 13 years of tremendous success hosting countless concerts, family shows and sporting events, and is home to the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators and the NLL’s Georgia Swarm.  Some past concerts include George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, James Taylor and Michael Bublé. Infinite Energy Arena also hosts many family shows including Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, Cirque du Soleil, Disney On Ice and Harlem Globetrotters.  Infinite Energy Forum offers patrons the opportunity to host or attend a wide variety of events, from corporate meetings to trade shows to social occasions.  Infinite Energy Theater has an intimate capacity of 708-seats and is home to many local events, family shows and even some comedians. The Hudgens Center for the Arts showcases a range of artwork throughout the year along with offering a wide range of fine art classes.

• For further information visit InfiniteEnergyCenter.com.

• For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: Our sponsors.

Here are more details on times when Georgia cities were chartered

Editor, the Forum:

If you’re going to invalidate Augusta’s 1735 Charter because of its 1996 Consolidation, then your downloadable file should also strike Columbus’ 1828 Charter in favor of its consolidation with Muscogee County in 1971, the first in Georgia. And Macon didn’t consolidate with Bibb until 2014. Also, Athens (not in the list at all) merged with Clarke in 1991, and Georgetown (also not in list) with Quitman in 2006.

However, the exact natures of these consolidations were different, and maybe you were making those distinctions.

In researching this, I found it interesting that Webster and Echols Counties both have unincorporated county seats, Preston and Statenville, respectively.

— Tom Fort, Grayson

Dear Tom: Thanks for the added info. Put it simply, we just ran out of room, trying to keep it to the 500 word limit for contributed articles and my own thoughts….–eeb

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.  We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Send feedback and letters to:    elliott@brack.net

GGC fall graduates will hear technology guru as speaker

Sanjay Parekh, a serial technology entrepreneur, will present the keynote address at Georgia Gwinnett College’s fall commencement ceremony.

More than 450 students will receive bachelor’s degrees at the event, which will be held at 10 a.m., Dec. 15, at the Infinite Energy Center Arena in Duluth. It is GGC’s largest fall-graduating class to date. The ceremony also will mark the graduation of the second half of the college’s charter nursing class.

Parekh is a co-founder of Prototype Prime, a startup incubator based in the northern Atlanta metro, and associate director of CREATE-X at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also runs Founder Fables, an off-the-record conference for founders and co-founders. Previously, he launched Startup Riot, a conference for startups which pioneered the three-minute, four-slide presentation format.

He was co-founder and the founding CEO of Digital Envoy, as well as the inventor of the company’s patented NetAcuity IP intelligence technology. This technology allows for geographic targeting of content, information and security for billions of Internet users every day. Starting in 1999, Parekh led Digital Envoy to raise $12 million in angel and venture funding. The company was acquired by Landmark Communications in June 2007. Parekh holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1996) where he also was inducted into the College of Engineering’s Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni (2013).

City of Duluth provides service for parents in holiday season

‘Tis the season to be jolly….while shopping! Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Department is providing a safe and fun-filled service to help parents shop this holiday season at Bunten Road Park. You can “Drop Your Child and Shop!”

Parks and Recreation Department Head Kathy Marelle says: “Because of the late holiday schedule of our local schools, the department recognized the need to have a holiday program for the kids as well as a safe place for the parents to bring their kids.”

Children will take part in holiday crafts, games and treats while their parents finish their Christmas list. Residents can drop of their child on December 10, 17 and 22. The cost is $25 for three hours or $75 for the day; from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. The program is for ages 4-12 years and space is limited. Early registration is recommended. Register at www.duluthga.net to or register in person or by mail at 3180 Bunten Road, Duluth, Ga. 30096. Residents looking for more information, should call (770)-814-6981.

Walker named Volunteer of the Year by the City of Sugar Hill

Among dignitaries at the Sugar Hill second annual Community Appreciation Banquet were, from left, Council Member Curtis Northrup; Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Hembree; Council Member Mike Sullivan; Council Member Marc Cohen’ Volunteer of the Year Chris Walker; Chris’ wife and daughter, Gina and Ana; Mayor Steve Edwards; and Council Member Susie Gajewski.

Local artist Chris Walker has been named the second annual Volunteer of the Year for 2016 in the City of Sugar Hill.   He has contributed countless hours to the city’s Historic Preservation Society and has helped the group accomplish several significant projects.  In 2016 the group oversaw a cemetery restoration, discovered 100+ year old history in gold mining in the area, and shared a wealth of historical information.  Mayor Steve Edwards says: “Chris’ dedication to the group is unmatched.”

Finalists for the 2016 award included Victoria Gonzalez from the Arts Commission; Nic Greene from the Downtown Development Authority; Taylor Morain from the Youth Council; Ane Mulligan from the Players Guild; and Steve Wilkes from the Business Alliance.  Last year, the honor went to Taylor Anderson, the chairman of the Downtown Development Authority.

Sugar Hill offers volunteer opportunities for people with all interests.  For more information about how you can get involved, visit www.cityofsugarhill.com or contact Scott Andrews at sandrews@cityofsugarhill.com.

Jury pool scam being reported in some areas of Gwinnett

Abby Carter manages juries for Gwinnett County courts, so she knows that the phone calls some local residents have been getting are a scam.

Typically the caller says it’s the Gwinnett Sheriff’s Office calling to tell the victims that they didn’t show up for jury duty and that they now owe a fine of as much as $900, which can be paid over the phone with a pre-paid debit card. “This is a scam,” Carter says.

“Law enforcement agencies do not call people and demand money. These callers often use names of people who really do work for the agency they’re impersonating and often have some information about their victims as well. That makes them sound more credible, but it’s a scam,” says Carter.

Every year, thousands of potential jurors in Gwinnett are selected randomly by computer from a database of registered voters and licensed drivers and summoned by mail. The summons explains the one-day-or-one-trial system and gives instructions on when and where to report for duty. If you don’t show up, they contact you again – also by mail.

• If you’ve been scammed, report it to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Services Division at (770) 619-6655.

Lawrenceville’s Brust is winner of Gwinnett Tech GOAL award

Brust

Gisella Brust, a 21-year-old radiologic technology student from Lawrenceville, is the winner of Gwinnett Technical College’s 2016 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL). The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) sponsors the GOAL program, which recognizes outstanding technical college students and honors excellence in academics and leadership.

Dr. Penny Waddell nominated Gisella for the GOAL award in 2015, but she did not place as a finalist. Waddell shared, “Following the competition, Gisella told me that she learned so much from the competition and hoped she would have the opportunity to try again for the next year. Throughout the year, I watched as she worked fervently to improve her communication and leadership skills, in addition to working hard on her studies.”

In 2015 she lost her mother to cancer. Walking that journey with her mom inspired Gisella to pursue a degree in Radiologic Technology.

More than 40 students representing over 7,500 student body members competed for the 2016 award. Gwinnett Tech’s other GOAL Finalists were:

• Debra Baldwin – Business Management student from Lawrenceville;
• Heather Brookshire – Veterinary Technology student from Norcross; and
• Shawntel Carey – Business Management student from Lawrenceville.

Snellville making progress to make Towne Center a reality

Snellville officials are continuing the effort to make the city’s Towne Center project a reality. A joint strategic planning board retreat with the city’s Development Authority and the Downtown Development Authority brought project leaders together to discuss progress and next steps to create a walkable and livable downtown, something city officials have been working toward for nearly a decade.

After receiving information about the city’s demographics and commercial and retail stability, those who attended the meeting heard about development agreements, financing and the ins and outs of real estate acquisitions needed to make the Towne Center vision come true.

In the upcoming months, city officials will meet with developers and lenders to determine a financial strategy for the project, including finalizing a budget and identifying necessary funding sources. Project leaders will also create a strategic plan to secure available funding and address transportation issues. There is also a plan to have another in a series of Town Hall meetings early next year spotlighting the activities of the DDA as they reach out to business owners in the Towne Center area, keeping them abreast of the plan.

Tilt

Young adult fiction by Ellen Hopkins

Reviewed by Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain:  The author has through her easy to understand poetic style, written a true-to-life story of teenagers, Shane, Harley and Mikayla, who are searching for their places in the world.  Shane is a gay teen who has just come out, but is in great pain because of a huge loss.  Harley, the good girl, is trying to fit in and finds herself attracting dangerous experiences as she forges a new identity.  Mikayla has found love in the midst of the disintegrating marriage of her parents. The lives of all the characters, parents and the teens find their lives ‘tilting’ in unknown and potentially destructive directions.  How they navigate the paths of their lives is a “can’t put it down” reading experience.  This book, as do others by Ellen Hopkins, offers a Reading Group study guide which includes pre-read and post-read questions.  It’s an ideal choice for a book club discussion, or for parents and teens to share.

• 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

Savannah River grows with importance for commercial purposes

(From previous edition)

When the American Revolution (1775-83) erupted, the patriots quickly saw the strategic importance of the Savannah. Twelve stockade-type forts were already located along the waterway to protect against Indian attacks when the war began. Most of the forts were strengthened when hostilities with the British heated up around 1776. The economic importance of the Savannah River to Georgia was reflected in the state’s original Constitution of 1777. Four of the eight original counties established by the constitution were located along the Savannah—Burke, Effingham, Richmond, and Wilkes. The other four counties were along the coast.

After the Revolutionary War, rice continued to be a major crop. But in 1793, at Catharine Greene‘s plantation on the banks of the Savannah, just upstream from the city, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. In short order, cotton dominated the region completely. The central sections of Georgia and South Carolina, including the areas bordering the Savannah, became the main cotton-producing region for the entire country. Intense plowing practices caused topsoil to erode and wash off into the Savannah and its tributaries, choking the life out of many of them. In November 1808 the first steamboat appeared on the Savannah, and soon the vessels became regular sights on the river between Savannah and Augusta, as they hauled cotton to markets in Savannah.

Early in the Civil War (1861-65), the Union blockaded the river and strangled the Port of Savannah. After the war, cotton shipping resumed on the river, but by the 1890s, a declining market and the arrival of the boll weevil greatly reduced the amount of the product going downriver. By that time two other products, naval stores and lumber, were in high demand. Countless trees in the swamps and forests along the Savannah were felled and floated downstream in huge log rafts to satisfy the lumber industry’s voracious appetite. After a time, the floating rafts of timber were about the only activity on the river; the steamboats had given way to railroads.

In 1915 representatives of the sugar industry selected a site several miles upriver from Savannah for a sprawling sugar plant that could be reached by oceangoing freighters in the river. A channel to accommodate ships was opened in 1917, paving the way for Savannah to become a major port.

In 1945 the Georgia Ports Authority was formed, and the river was dredged to 38 feet. In 1994 the channel was deepened to 42 feet. In May 2014 the U.S. Congress passed legislation providing funds to dredge the river to 47 feet, allowing the port to accommodate larger oceangoing vessels.

• To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

Three obvious clues may help you solve this Mystery Photo

A river, a city, a castle? Are these enough clues to help you identify this Mystery Photo? Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.

The most recent Mystery Photo was indeed that to all readers, except George Graf of Palmyra, Va. It was the Roundtop Filling Station, in Sherwood, Arkansas. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1936 by the Pierce Oil Company. In 1936, Pierce Oil contracted with the Justin Matthews Company to construct a uniquely shaped gasoline station along U.S. Highway 67. With its mushroom-shaped roof and arched windows and doors, the Roundtop is an example of the Mimetic/Programmatic architecture style common in smaller oil company station designs from the 1920s through the 1960s.  Wallace David “Happy” Williford, a senior at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville (Pulaski County) and employee at another Pierce-owned station in Jacksonville, was asked by the company to operate the new service station. As he was still a student, Williford paid men to operate the station for him during school hours but reported that it was hard to find men who would work for only $3.50 a week. For rent, Pierce charged Williford two cents per gallon of gas sold. At first, the station had no electric gas pumps, and Williford and his employees had to hand-pump the gas.”

GACS Math Team wins second in 32nd Mercer Math competition

The Greater Atlanta Christian School varsity math team placed second out of 19 other schools in the A-AAAAA division in the 32nd Annual Mercer University High School Mathematics Competition.  The tournament included individual testing rounds and speed rounds.  Congratulations, team!  Angelique Allen is the coach of the team. Members include, from left, Bill Ma, Calvin Dong,  Alex Li,  David Lin, Vivian Zuo, Nina Da and  Kay Zhou.

Candlelight Tours of Yule Decorated McDaniel Farm Park in Duluth.  Tours will also be offered at 8:30 p.m. on December 8, 10, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21. See the warmth of candles and the home decorated with fresh greenery and period holiday ornaments as costumed guides share historic customs and traditions with a glimpse of everyday life on a family farm.  After the tour, guests will enjoy a delicious cup of hot chocolate or apple cider as well as have the opportunity to make a holiday craft. A program fee for the candlelight tour is $8 per person. Pre-registration is required and must be done online at www.gwinnettEHC.org. McDaniel Farm is located at 3251 McDaniel Road, Duluth,

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