THREE DISTINGUISHED WOMEN of Georgia were inducted in the Women of Achievement Hall of Fame Thursday in Macon. Among them was Carolyn Carter of Sea Island, shown with her husband, Don Carter. For stories about these three women, see Elliott Brack’s comments below.
IN THIS EDITIONTODAY’S FOCUS: Volunteering Your Time In Retirement Can Be Satisfying Experience
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Three Georgians Inducted in Women of Achievement Hall of Fame
ANOTHER VIEW: Author Foresees Trump To Become Victim of Poisoned Chalice
SPOTLIGHT: Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
FEEDBACK: Feels It’s Best for the County for Commissioner Hunter To Resign
UPCOMING: Snellville Announces New Senior Housing Community
NOTABLE: County Votes To Continue Employment Training at Corrections Center
RECOMMENDED: Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Emory University Hospital Dates Back to Year 1904
TODAY’S QUOTE: What Living a Long Time Can Make You Believe
MYSTERY PHOTO: Flag May Give You a Clue As To This Photo’s Location
CALENDAR: Duluth Middle School To Present The Lion King Jr.
TODAY’S FOCUSVolunteering your time in retirement can be satisfying experience
By Robbie Stedeford, Peachtree Corners, Ga. | After 43 years in real estate, I found myself with little to do at home. I am not a yard person.
A friend of mine had done some volunteer service at a hospital and told me I should try it. I went over to Gwinnett Medical Center in Duluth and talked to the volunteer coordinator. She put me in the Endoscopy Department every Tuesday from September 1. (Free lunch is provided to the volunteers. The nurses I worked with were absolutely great to me and other volunteers and their patients. I made beds and wheeled patients to their cars after their procedures.
Stedeford
One day while shopping I ran into Mary Kay Murphy, who is on the Gwinnett School Board. She suggested I try substitute teaching to fill some free time. I told her, “Wow! I have never thought of that before.” I went to the School Board office and applied. They do a background check. I also had to pass a four hour test before I would be accepted.
No longer are you called at 6 a.m. to substitute. The school system has a computer program where you can sign in and pick the school where you want to work, but also the dates and subject. (The teachers usually leave a plan for the day for you.) Usually you read a chapter or give a test to turn in.
I picked three schools near where I live: Peachtree Elementary, Simpson Elementary and Norcross High School. I figured the young children were easier to handle and the older students more mature. I was wrong. The younger children were everywhere in the room, and a few of the high school students were not very mature.
One day I substituted in a Special Education class. I found it very rewarding. These students seemed to appreciate what was being done together and were also learning life skills. This is where I found my “niche.” I also have a new respect for Special Education teachers. They need the two months off in the summer for them to renourish their mental state.
I have also volunteered at the polling station for four elections. It is a long day, 16 hours, including set up the day before, the time on election day and then the take down after the polls close. Also you have to take a test on line and attend a class to quality to work.
All in all, volunteering is about expanding your experiences. I found substituting the best for me. I even learn something in the classrooms myself. I certainly didn’t do this for the money. Substituting pays only $8.50 an hour. That’s not why you do it; you do it to get out of the house, and to help people. It is quite satisfying.
On probably three or four days a week I find myself as a substitute. You can pick the days you want to work, and you have flexibility of the teachers and schools you want to work with. Like yesterday I only worked half a day with Special Education classes. Tomorrow I’m working eight hours, 7:30 to 3:30.
Try it. You may be surprised at how much you like it, and benefit from getting out of the house and being useful.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Three Georgians inducted in Women of Achievement Hall of Fame
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, Macon, Ga. | We ventured “back home” to Macon Thursday at Wesleyan College to be present for three prominent Georgia women, all now deceased, who were inducted in the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame.
One who was a particular friend is Carolyn MacKenzie Carter of Moultrie, the first female photographer for The Atlanta Constitution. The other two are Clermont Huger Lee, one of Georgia’s first female landscape architects; and Lucile Nix, the first library head for the state of Georgia who led significant library expansion across the state.
Altogether, there are now 84 other women who were previously honored by the Georgia Women of Achievement. Only one person from Gwinnett, former Duluth Mayor Alice Strickland, is among the recipients of this honor. She served as mayor in 1923, and was the first female mayor in Georgia.
Carolyn Carter was a graduate of the University of Georgia, and hired by Editor Ralph McGill as a photographer for The Atlanta Constitution. She blazed trails for female journalists, first with the newspaper, and later with the Coca-Cola Company, and then as a travel writer and photographer.
Carter with her husband, Don.
It was while working on the Constitution that she met Don Carter, on the staff of the rival Atlanta Journal, and later married him. Both had distinguished careers in journalism, retiring at Sea Island, Ga.
Carolyn was the first woman named a Master of Photography by the Professional Photographers Association. Her journalistic collections are held at four places, two at the Atlanta History Center, one at the Hargrett Library Special Collections at the University of Georgia; and the fourth among the archives of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the Georgia State University.
Mrs. Carter was a board member of the Little White House Museum in Warm Springs, and worked diligently to bring that museum to its current prestige. Among other honors, in 1986 the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade and Travel created the Carolyn Carter Award to honor travel photographers. She was even “Man of the year” for the Industrial Photographers of America one year. Mrs. Carter died in 2010 at age 91.
Lee
Clermont Lee was a Savannah native, and is recognized for her achievements in landscape design. With an undergraduate degree from Smith College, she had a master’s degree from that college’s architecture school in Cambridge, Mass.
The Great Depression brought her back to Georgia, where Lee pioneered the restoration of five neglected city squares in Savannah and worked to establish the Georgia State Board of Landscape Architects. She was the first female landscape architect in Georgia. Later she worked with the Sea Island Company, and drew plans for the Hofwyl-Broadfield plantation garden in Brunswick. She also contributed significant work toward restoration of several Savannah mansion gardens. Mrs. Lee died in 2006 in Hilton Head, S.C.
Nix
Lucile Nix was a native of Commerce who graduated from Greenville (SC) Women’s College (now Furman University), and got a bachelor’s of library science from Emory University. She was first a teacher, then began her library career in Winston Salem, N.C., later in Knoxville, Tenn. and in 1945 was named the chief library consultant for Georgia. She retired in 1968.
When she began in Georgia, there were six regional libraries serving 14 counties, and 40 additional libraries giving county-wide service. By her retirement, there were 36 regional libraries serving 134 counties, with 25 counties provided county-wide service. In 1963, she was selected as the Georgia Woman of the Year by Progressive Farmer magazine, and also continued to win honors for her library science achievements. She died in 1968 in Decatur.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Author foresees Trump to become victim of poisoned chalice
“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” … H.L. Mencken
By George Wilson, contributing columnist | The winning of the presidential election by Trump may prove to be a poisoned chalice. A one-term administration is likely as the new president struggles with high unfavorability ratings. Indeed, we have already seen many street demonstrations.
There is a still ideologically divided Congress and a predicted mild recession as the business cycle comes to an end. With his cabinet picks and hands off management style, we are likely to see scandals and maybe even impeachment proceedings. Policy decisions based on right-wing ideologies will result in some negative consequences for the nation. One only has to examine the state of Kansas and how the implementation of these right-wing policies has on a state.
Nonetheless, the unpopularity of Trump means that he will start from a position of weakness and a divided Congress will make passing key pillars of his unrealistic agenda even more difficult. Without possible concessions on immigration policy and the toning down of nativist and racist rhetoric, a Republican victory is therefore unlikely in 2020.
Trump’s plans for a huge wall on the southern border with Mexico and mass deportations of millions of undocumented workers are unrealistic. The predicted attacks on promoting clean energy and healthcare reforms will not go over well with the educated suburban voter, especially women. The increase in violent deaths by guns will increase and the lack of will to tighten gun control laws will start to corrode support for the NRA’s radical positions.
Trumps filling the vacancy in the Supreme Court will be the most consequential act of the new president. But it is likely to create even more animosity, again, especially among women.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. The Gwinnett Chamber is the forum for business, government, education, healthcare, arts/culture/entertainment, and philanthropic and public service communities to come together to advance our region’s economy and enrich Gwinnett’s quality of life. The Gwinnett Chamber strengthens existing businesses, facilitates the growth of quality job opportunities and ensures success continues to live here.
- For more details, go to www.gwinnettchamber.org.
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Feels it’s best for the county for Commissioner Hunter to resign
Editor, the Forum:
The AJC recently reported on Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter’s ignorant and insensitive Facebook racial comments about civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis (D-GA.) This has become a national embarrassment to our county, which has worked long and hard to build a welcoming, harmonious and tolerant place for all to live.
As a fifty- year old white male, who has lived in Gwinnett County since 1995, I continue to be proud of the positive and peaceful progress that our county has made towards improving education, spurring economic growth, protecting the environment and embracing racial diversity.
The people of our county are also forgiving. I’m sure that most folks in Gwinnett have accepted Commissioner Hunter’s apology for a bad choice of words and wish him well in his private life. Nonetheless, Commissioner Hunter has broken the trust of Gwinnett taxpayers and voters. Therefore, he should resign from the seat so that his replacement and the rest of the Commission can focus on the pressing challenges that our county faces.
The hateful words of one of our public servants should be a call to action for all the citizens of Gwinnett. Under a Gwinnett County Ethics Ordinance passed in 2011, an ethics panel or board will form to make a recommendation regarding the future of Mr. Hunter as a county commissioner. Please contact your county commissioner to demand Commissioner Hunter’s immediate resignation and to expedite the work of the ethics board so that 100 percent of the Commission’s time can be focused on the challenges facing our county.
Without Commissioner Hunter’s resignation, the current polarization, stalemate and dysfunction of our county government will continue and unifying efforts to make Gwinnett great again will continue to be distracted.
— Jeff Ploussard, Lilburn
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
UPCOMINGSnellville announces new senior housing community
Senior Lifestyle Corporation, a privately-held owner, operator and developer of senior housing communities and its co-developer, Griffin Fine Living, LLC, announced development plans for The Sheridan at Eastside. The Sheridan’s construction is slated to begin in the fall of 2017 with a projected opening date for residents in late 2018.
The Sheridan at Eastside will feature 81 independent-living and 60 assisted-living apartment homes, 24 independent-living cottages and 32 memory care residences. The 190,000-square-foot retirement community will sit on approximately 15 acres of land a few blocks north of Ronald Parkway on Tree Lane, adjacent to Eastside Regional Medical Center.
Bob Gawronski, vice president of development and acquisitions for Senior Lifestyle Corporation, says: “When Griffin Fine Living introduced us to this opportunity, we knew it was the perfect setting for a Sheridan Collection thanks to the property’s naturally appealing scenery, its proximity to a vibrant commercial center, and its location in a city that is arguably the jewel of Gwinnett County. One thing that makes this property stand out is that we complement our upscale amenities and proximity to healthcare and area shopping with exceptional care and hospitality that makes residents feel at home and gives families peace of mind.”
Residents of the community will have access to about 24,000 square feet of common space with multiple dining options, a spa, theater, fitness and wellness center, art studio, business center, various multi-purpose lounges, a swimming pool, and more. In addition, the future retirement community is part of a growing residential zone, with a planned single-family residential development next door. The property will also feature outdoor access to walking paths leading to a five-acre pond on the campus.
Once fully occupied, The Sheridan at Eastside will directly create more than 100 new full and part-time permanent jobs in the community.
Duluth Fine Arts League accepting applications for scholarships
The Duluth Fine Arts League is seeking applications for scholarships to graduating seniors from Duluth, Peachtree Ridge, North Gwinnett High Schools, or Homeschoolers who are planning to major or minor in one of the Fine Arts at the college level.
Categories cover the visual arts including fine art, graphics, or photography; music, either vocal or instrumental; and theater arts such as dance and acting. Scholarships totaling $8000 will be awarded to deserving seniors who participate in auditions on April 19. Applications for the Duluth Fine Arts Scholarship are now available at www.duluthfineartsleague.org. Applications must be submitted online prior to the deadline which is March 19.
Hudgens exhibit March 11 shows masks from brain-injured patients
Members of the New Beginnings Brain Injury Support Group in Gwinnett are having an unique art exhibit opening Saturday, March 11 at the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth. The exhibit promotes brain injury awareness through the showing of masks made by brain injury patients.
The original works of art will be showcased at the Hudgens Center for the Arts through May. Once the exhibit closes here in Georgia, the masks will then be gifted to a national brain injury awareness program called Unmasking Brain Injury, where the masks will become part of a permanent art collection that travels across the country.
If you know of a person with a brain injury that would like to make a mask to be a part of the permanent collection, please email the New Beginnings Brain Injury Support Group Leader, Paige Havens at paigehavens@bellsouth.net. There will be at least one more mask making session offered between now and May to allow others to participate.
NOTABLECounty votes to continue employment training at corrections center
Vocational support and employment training will continue for inmates at the Gwinnett County Comprehensive Correctional Complex. Commissioners on Tuesday approved the department to submit a proposal for a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grant of $86,600 from the Atlanta Regional Commission and to accept a contract if funding is awarded.
The Gwinnett facility is the only prison in Georgia that receives these funds for its inmate programs. “Since 1997, the resources available through WIOA have made a positive impact on prison inmates,” said Warden Darrell Johnson. “Over the years, the program has provided funds, personnel and textbooks. I’m extremely pleased with the program’s success and the opportunities it offers to offenders returning to our community.”
In 2016, inmates received more than 6,000 hours of vocational training, job-search skills, and on-the-job training in barbering, carpentry, food service, ServSafe and forklift operations.
Lawrenceville picks slate to nominate for Hooper-Renwick Committee
The City of Lawrenceville announces the selection of leaders to nominate individuals for the future Hooper-Renwick Legacy Preservation Committee.
Those on the nomination team are Ms. Rubye Neal, Greg Lot, Marlyn Tillman, Marlene Taylor-Crawford and Mayor Judy Jordan Johnson.
The City of Lawrenceville purchased the vacant Hooper-Renwick School facility to provide a catalyst for redevelopment in the immediate downtown area. Mayor Judy Jordan Johnson says: “The City recognizes the significant historical impact of the Hooper-Renwick community and is committed to commemorating this unique and important past as we move forward together to embrace a progressive and unified vision in a special way.”
The Committee will meet and nominate a minimum of 12 and no more than 25 candidates for Mayor and Council to consider by March 15, 2017.
RECOMMENDEDQueen Sugar by Natalie Baszile
From Nancy Harris, Stone Mountain | When Charley Bordelon inherits 800 acres of sugarcane land in Louisiana, she is cautiously hopeful that this may be the way to rebuild her life. Charley drives from California with her daughter, Micah, to Louisiana and finds herself in less than easy circumstances. She must find her way with learning the land, adjusting to the climate and learning to know her aunt and grandmother, who she has not seen for years. The work is back breakingingly-laborious, but opens in Charley a slow-growing confidence the will to see this goal through and also open her heart to new possibilities in this new locale. She must also work through the troubled relationship with her half brother, who has had a difficult and tumultuous life. A page-turner that will have the reader rooting for all the characters and the primary one…the Sugarcane Farm.
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
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBITEmory University Hospital dates back to 1904
Emory University Hospital in Atlanta is the core facility of one of the nation’s leading university-based health systems, with nationally and internationally recognized faculty physicians in more than 100 specialty and subspecialty areas.
The adult, tertiary care facility is a component of Emory Healthcare, the largest and most comprehensive health system in Georgia as of 2006. About 23,000 inpatients and more than 81,000 outpatients visit Emory University Hospital each year, according to 2006 records. As of that same year the hospital contains 579 beds and is staffed by 800 practicing physicians, who are also faculty members at the Emory University School of Medicine.
Providing a full range of specialized care, the hospital is annually included in U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” and is recognized for its excellence in cardiology and cardiac surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, ophthalmology, organ and tissue transplantation, and orthopedics. For eight consecutive years (1998-2006), members of the Atlanta community named Emory University Hospital the Consumer’s Choice Award winner.
The hospital’s relationship with Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center has had a significant impact on patients. Through this partnership, advances have been made in medicine that will affect the lives of Georgians for the next several decades.
Emory University Hospital dates back to March 1904, when its predecessor, Wesley Memorial Hospital, was chartered with 50 beds. The hospital was housed in a downtown Atlanta mansion that had been spared from destruction by Union general William T. Sherman’s army during the Atlanta campaign in 1864.
By 1922 the hospital had grown too large for its quarters and was moved to its current DeKalb County site on the Emory University campus. The new 275-bed facility was a gift from Asa Candler, philanthropist and founder of the Coca-Cola Company.
In the mid-1930s, the name was changed to Emory University Hospital. The university and the hospital bear the name of Bishop John Emory, who presided over a meeting of the Georgia Methodist Conference in 1834 at which delegates decided to establish a Methodist college, which later became Emory University.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Flag may give you a clue as to this photo’s location
There’s a reason an American flag is flying above this building. Figure that out, and you may know where this photograph was taken. Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.
No ordinary soul recognized the skyline of Milwaukee, Wis. as the last Mystery Photo. Of course, George Graf of Palmyra, Va. is no ordinary soul, as he immediately sent in the correct answer. The photo came from Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill. George sends us several facts about Milwaukee:
“The Allen-Bradley Clock Tower is the world’s largest four-faced clock. Its octagonal faces are nearly twice the size of the faces of London’s Big Ben. Chimes were never added in order to allow Big Ben to remain the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world.
- The 15th century St. Joan of Arc Chapel, which is the actual church where St. Joan of Arc is thought to have prayed prior to her execution, was moved brick by brick from Lyons, France to the Marquette University’s campus.
- In 1867, Christopher Latham Sholes invented the “literary piano,” the first commercially successful typewriter.
- Surveyor and mapmaker Increase A. Lapham is credited as “father of the United States Weather Bureau” and submitted the first official weather forecast in November 1870.
- In 1903, William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson introduced the first production Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
- In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt while campaigning in Milwaukee. The bullet’s force penetrated his steel eyeglass case and passed through a 50-page copy of the speech he was carrying in his pocket before stopping short of fatally injuring Roosevelt.”
(NEW) Health-Wellness walk/run will be at Suwanee Creek Park in Suwanee on Saturday, March 11 at 10 a.m. It is sponsored by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. To sign up, visit http://bit.ly/uaowalkruninthepark
Spartan Sprint 5K and one mile Fun Run, March 11 at 7 a.m. at Greater Atlanta Christian School Spartan Stadium. Dress like a Spartan! For details, go to: https://www.greateratlantachristian.org/page/campus-life/spartan-sprint-5k–fun-run.
Author Visit: Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 5141 Peachtree Parkway, at the Forum in Peachtree Corners. Brad Parks is the only author to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. Parks is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a former journalist with The Washington Post and The (Newark, NJ) Star-Ledger. This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase and signing. For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.
Quince Girl Expo will be Saturday, March 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pinckneyville Community Recreation Center. Party planning professionals are invited to feature interactive demonstrations, fashion shows and share ideas on planning the perfect Quinceañera celebration! The event is free for attendees and will feature do-it-yourself workshops. Interested exhibitors and demonstrators are encouraged to reserve space early by calling 678-277-0920 or visit the website for information on the event www.gwinnettparks.com.
(NEW) Southern Wings Bird Club will meet on Monday, March 13, at 7 p.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center. The program will be on Shorebirds, by Giff Beaton, a Delta pilot and author of several books on birds in Georgia. For more information, visit southernwingsbc.com.
The Foreigner, by Larry Shue, will be presented March 17 through April 2 at the Lionheart Theatre in downtown Norcross. Set in a fishing lodge in rural Georgia, a shy man who “speaks no English” learns more than he should. Runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m. Details: http://lionhearttheatre.org/buy-tickets/.
(NEW) Bridal Expo at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage, Sunday, March 19, from 1 until 4 p.m. The Bridal Expo offers an opportunity for onsite exhibitors to share creative ideas and designs for wedding ceremonies and receptions, provide delectable food and appetizer samples, as well as offer door prizes throughout the day. Presale tickets are available online at www.gwinnettEHC.org and are $25 for the VIP Workshop (only available online prior to the Expo), $8 for adults and $6 for children ages three to 12.
(NEW) The Lion King Jr. will be presented by the Duluth Middle School Wildcat Players on March 23, 24 and 25 at 7 p.m., and on March 26 at 3 p.m. Admission is $5 for tickets purchased before the play or $10 at the door. Over 100 middle school students will be in the production either on stage, directing or working on sets and costumer.
Exhibition Extended: World Through the Lens Photo Show of Frank Sharp at the Tucker Library, 5234 LaVista Road has been extended until April 28, 2017. The library is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
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