A CREW FROM JACKSON EMC is constructing two protective nesting sites for ospreys at Lake Lanier near Georgia Highway 53 in Hall County . The migratory birds have been returning each year to nests built on Boling Bridge, but plans to demolish that bridge require they receive a new home. Therefore, two poles, with nesting platforms that are essentially lumber frames with a chain link bottom, are attached to the poles by wood screws. This is a design researched and approved by the Audubon Society with successful field results. It allows for adequate support of the osprey nest and proper drainage of rain and waste. (Photo by Robb Maag)
TODAY’S FOCUS: Local Superhero Crusades against Blood Disease Through Walton Grant
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Here’s Why Some People Say To Me: “You Haven’t Changed a Bit!”
SPOTLIGHT: Eastside Medical Center
FEEDBACK: Finds Rewards of Volunteering In and Around Gwinnett
UPCOMING: Peachtree Corners To Get New Headquarters Firm, 500 Jobs This Spring
NOTABLE: Re-Financing Bonds Produces $80 Million Gwinnett Savings
RECOMMENDED: Plenty Porter by Brandon Noonan
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Blueberries and Strawberries Becoming Dynamic Enterprises in Georgia
TODAY’S QUOTE: Oooops! Maybe There’s Another Way for Modern Civilization!
MYSTERY PHOTO: Maybe the Architecture Will Give Away the Identity of This Photo
CALENDAR: Beauty and the Beast Coming to Duluth Middle School
Local Superhero crusades against blood disease through Walton grant
Walton EMC’s Operation Round Up recently presented the Marrow Man Epic Battle Campaign with $8,000 to increase blood marrow donation awareness. From left are on the front row Marrow Man and Marrow Man creators Sable Harris and Trevor Harris. On the back row are Wade Harris and DeDe Harris, with Walton Electric Trust board members Brenda Brown and Don Hardison.
By Gregg Brooks, Monroe, Ga. | Because of a grant from Walton Electric Membership Corporation’s (EMC) Operation Round Up, a local superhero can further his crusade against evil blood diseases.
Marrow Man’s Epic Battle Campaign received $8,000 to support organizations that recruit blood marrow donors. The Marrow Man character is a creation of the Harris family of Monroe.
The Harrises came up with the Marrow Man concept during 20-hour round-trip rides to Cincinnati for treatment of their son Trevor’s Fanconi anemia condition. Their goal was to raise awareness for bone marrow donations and to have a way to explain the disease to Trevor and his classmates.
DeDe Harris explains: “We found there’re not a lot of kid-focused materials. Blood disease is very abstract to children. We were trying to find something Trevor could grab hold of and understand.”
Marrow Man’s Epic Battle campaign includes unconventional methods – comic books, displays and other materials – to reach potential blood marrow donors. One of the campaign’s target groups is college students, who are the prime age to be bone marrow donors.
Walton EMC customer-owners who participate in Operation Round Up allow the cooperative to round their monthly electric bills up to the next dollar. The resulting change goes into a fund to help worthy organizations and deserving individuals in Walton EMC’s 10-county service area. Since its inception, Operation Round Up has distributed more than $4.5 million in grants.
Other recent grants include:
- Extra Special People (entire WEMC) – $5,000 for an after school program for children with special needs.
- Georgia DECA Foundation (entire WEMC) – $1,500 for identifying future career paths and mentors students.
- It Won’t Happen to Me (Barrow, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Clarke, Morgan, Walton, DeKalb, Newton) – $2,000 for their program that aims to reduce teen traffic violations and deaths from car crashes.
- Judy House Ministry (Barrow, Clarke, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Newton, Oconee, Rockdale, Walton) – $7,500 for a transition residence for homeless men .
- Loganville Community Ministry Village (Barrow, Gwinnett, Newton, Walton County) – $10,000 for providing mental health services for those in need.
- Creative Enterprises (Barrow, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Walton) – $500 for a program that teaches independence to individuals with disabilities.
- Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia (DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale) – $2,500 for a hands-on elective high school course and promoting character development and business leadership.
- Angel House of Georgia (Gwinnett, Rockdale) – $3,000 to their Angel Fund Program that assists women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
- Hi Hope Service Center (Barrow, Gwinnett) – $5,000 to assist developmentally disabled adults with communication support.
- Wishes 4 Me Foundation (Gwinnett) – $2,500 to remove barriers in Wish 4 Me Foundation homes.
Walton EMC is a customer-owned power company that serves 126,000 accounts over its 10-county service area between Atlanta and Athens.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Here’s why some people say to me: You haven’t changed a bit!”
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | There’s a new mug shot looking out at you today. And there’s a story behind that.
Brack
It goes back years ago to my days publishing a weekly newspaper in South Georgia. During the political season, many of the candidates would come in for the editor to help them in writing their “political announcement,” which would be a paid advertisement for the candidate in the newspaper up until the election.
We would help craft the candidate’s announcement. It might be even that same day, or a few days later, when his opponent would come in, and again we’d go through the job of putting into good form his announcement that he was seeking political office.
Sometimes, when we would ask the candidate where he stood on some of the issues, he would come back with: “What do you think?” Many of these candidates were willing to stand on either side of some issues. All they wanted was to get elected.
About the last thing these candidates did was to pull out a picture and hand it to us to run with their announcement. Often I would look at the photo, then look at the candidate (most always men), and realize that they seemed like two different persons. The photo they planned to use would almost always be that of a younger man, who looked nothing like the present-day candidate. Vanity, I guess.
Maybe it’s because of social media; maybe it’s because of digital cameras or even iPhones; but most of the candidates today offer recent photographs of themselves.
Those incidents with candidates years ago is what caused me to make sure that my photograph running alongside my column was of the present-day me, so to speak.
It’s been about five years since my last photograph, so today you see a new rendering of what evidently I look like today. (The photo was made by Tracey Rice of Peachtree Corners, in her new photographic venture after retiring. She does a good job and carefully arranges her clients to get the best view.)
Now as a consequence of constantly changing mug shots of me over the years, there’s another outcome.
We’ve had many people who I seldom see come up to me and comment on my aging in a rather nice way: “Man, you haven’t changed a bit!” What they do not recognize is that as I have routinely changed in my appearance over the years, I’ve keep new pictures before them, and what they are seeing is what they have been trained to see: more-or-less present day me.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt any that some of my changes aren’t evident when looking at my face. You see, unlike one of my uncles who was bald before he was age 40, my hairline from the front at least hasn’t changed all that much. Oh, of course, it’s no longer the brown of my youth, is thinner, and is graying more each day. Yes, I am balding, but not from the front, but from the back. (It surprises me when I see a photo of myself taken from the rear, and see this growing bald head. Yep, that’s me.)
So that’s the story of this new mug shot. If I am around in a few more years, expect another change so that people may say “You haven’t changed a bit.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Eastside Medical Center
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today we welcome a new underwriter, Eastside Medical Center, which has been a healthcare leader for more than 35 years providing quality care to patients in Gwinnett and surrounding counties. Eastside is a 310-bed, multi-campus system of care offering comprehensive medical and surgical programs as well as 24-hour emergency care. Eastside Medical Group provides primary care for patients of all ages in Snellville, Grayson, and Loganville. Specialty surgical services and gynecology and maternity services are also offered by Eastside Medical Group in Snellville. Eastside Medical Center will be opening three new urgent care centers located at Sugarloaf, Centerville, and Lilburn in 2017. Our exceptional medical staff of 500 board certified physicians, 1,200 employees and 400 volunteers is committed to providing our community a healthcare system of excellence.
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Finds rewards of volunteering in and around Gwinnett
Editor, the Forum:
It was with much interest that I read the recent article by Robbie Stedeford about volunteering at a school.
Since being retired, I have “worked” the volunteer network, at such places as Gwinnett Medical Center, Meals on Wheels, Center for the Visually Impaired, Norcross Co-op, Thrift Shop at Christ Episcopal Church,Rainbow Village, Impact Group, a slew of HOA’s, and for the last two years, The Aquarium.
I would love to see more articles about volunteering in Gwinnett County. I know there are lots of opportunities out there that I must be missing.
— Mickey Merkel, Berkeley Lake
Lengths of both baseball and football games need changing
Editor, the Forum:
You’re right about the length of games and have great suggestions, some I never considered. I prefer high school baseball – it’s very good in Gwinnett County (Parkview was national champions in 2012 and 2015). and the games are seven innings, affordable, and more enjoyable as you can get closer to the action, with a lot more offense than pro ball. You can even sit in the same zip code as the game at smaller parks, and sometimes hear conversations on the field, even coaches arguing with umpires.
Better rules: In high school ball players can re-enter the game one time and “courtesy runners” can be used for the pitcher and catcher (saves time removing equipment and enables more kids to play). College baseball should do the same. Anything to speed up the game is welcome.
Television is ruining football too. I used to be a Georgia football season ticket holder but grew tired of sitting in the stadium while the television commercials ran. I don’t miss being there at all. I now watch on television and always walk around the house while the ads play. Football needs a lot of game shortening rules changes.
Off subject but annoying are the overtime rules in pro football. You win the toss and have a huge advantage. Score a touchdown and the other team’s offense never gets on the field in overtime. What idiot invented that one?
Pro football should adopt college overtime rules – much fairer to both teams. I see more action in basketball, which is willing to alter the rules as needed. To me, basketball’s March Madness is the most exciting sports event.
Columnist Joe Sobran was right when he said around twenty years back that few people under age 80 still consider baseball to be America’s national pastime (and he was a big baseball fan). It’s becoming worse.
— Marshall Miller, 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
Peachtree Corners to get new headquarters firm, 500 jobs this spring
Crawford and Company, one of the world’s largest independent providers of claims management solutions, will open its new corporate headquarters in Peachtree Corners this spring. The new facility, located at 5335 Triangle Parkway, will house all corporate headquarter operations, and represents approximately 500 new jobs and $15 million in capital investment over the next three years.
Crawford will be moving its headquarters from Perimeter Center to Peachtree Corners.
City of Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason says: “Crawford’s decision to select Peachtree Corners as the home of their new headquarters is great news for the city. We look forward to working with the company to connect our talented workforce with the high-wage jobs this relocation will bring to our community.”
With an expansive global network that serves clients in more than 70 countries, Crawford and Company offers comprehensive and integrated claims services, business process outsourcing and consulting services for major project lines, including property and casualty claims management, worker’s compensation claims, medical claims and legal administration.
Free Transit Express rides to Clifton Road Corridor on March 14
Gwinnett County Transit invites commuters to “Try the bus on us!” with free rides on the new Emory Express Route on Tuesday, March 14. The service, which began last November, has stops at Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control.
As part of the grand opening event, the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District will be providing refreshments for riders between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. at the Indian Trail Park and Ride Lot at Interstate 85. Georgia Commute Options also will be on site to provide information on programs such as the Guaranteed Ride Home, a free benefit for commuters.
Alan Chapman, director of the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation says: “For years there has been interest from both the public and the Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association in starting this route. So we are pleased to add these stops to serve commuters who work in the Clifton Road area.”
In operation since 2001, Gwinnett County Transit offers Express, Local and Paratransit bus service. The County contracts out the operation of the system to Transdev North America, Inc. For additional information about the grand opening or Gwinnett County Transit, visit www.gctransit.com or call 770-822-5010.
Resurfacing of Ronald Reagan Parkway goes to ER Snell firm
Gwinnett County Commissioners on Tuesday have awarded a $3.2 million resurfacing contract on Ronald Reagan Parkway and accepted grant funds to pay for 80 percent of the cost. These federal funds come from the Atlanta Regional Commission and are being administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
ER Snell Contractor Inc. had the lowest of five bids at $3,189,370.70. The project stretches from Pleasant Hill Road to 1,600 feet west of Georgia Highway 124, a distance of about seven miles.
GDOT will reimburse Gwinnett County up to $2.65 million for the resurfacing, which is 80 percent of the total project budget of $3,294,104.98. Gwinnett’s share of the project is funded by the 2009 SPLOST program. This project touches all commission districts.
Refinancing bonds produces $80 million Gwinnett savings
For 20 years, Gwinnett County has held an AAA bond rating from all three national bond-rating agencies – the highest possible for local governments, allowing the County to refinance bonds at favorable interest rates. In addition to refinancing the debt, the county was also able to pay off some debt early. All of these activities combined are saving taxpayers more than $80 million in future interest payments.
Gwinnett County is one of 49 counties in the nation to have a Triple AAA bond rating. The latest rating came in December after the County’s finances went through intense review by analysts from S&P Global, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
The County in January refinanced bonds used for construction of Coolray Stadium. The strong credit rating coupled with favorable market conditions resulted in lowering the interest rate from 6.25 to 3.27 percent and saving about $14 million over the life of the bonds.
Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash says: “I think this demonstrates that Gwinnett County is keeping a close eye on taxpayers’ money. We aren’t going to leave money on the table.”
Financial Services Director Maria Woods said the Triple AAA bond rating means the County can borrow money at most-favorable interest rates at the time the bonds are issued and also refinance the bonds when the market improves and interest rates drop. Woods said that while the credit rating is a reflection on the financial condition of the County, it is also influenced by sound management decisions and institutional practices. Woods credited the Board of Commissioners for fiscal flexibility, smart debt management and financial policies such as multi-year planning, controlling expenditures and a pay-as-you-go capital program.
“This Triple AAA bond rating by independent analysts tells investors that Gwinnett County is well-managed, fiscally strong and a solid investment,” Nash said. “This is a very difficult rating to achieve. A Triple AAA rating puts us in the top 2 percent of the 3,000-plus counties in America.” Cobb County is the only other county in Georgia to have a similar rating.
Lawrenceville names 15 citizens to Financial Review committee
The City of Lawrenceville has appointed members to serve on the community’s newly formed Financial Review Citizens Committee. The Committee comprises 15 members — five residents, five business representatives and five community leaders.
Members named to the community at last night’s Council meeting included Michael Bolitz, Carla Crowe, Susan Sikes Davis, John Greenway, Liz Hartnett, Ryan Jensen, Glenn Martin, Jason Powell, Andres Rubio, Linda Stephens, Michael Thomas, Ann Vines, Jeff Wages, Sandra Webb and Carolyn Wright. The purpose of this committee is to educate citizens, business owners, and community leaders on the financial operations of the City and ultimately to encourage input into the $170 million Lawrenceville budgetary process in order to create better transparency with the public.
Plenty Porter by Brandon Noonan
Simply told in the first person, this first novel revolves around the year between 12 and 13 for an Illinois sharecropper’s daughter, a tall girl for her age, who comes from a family of 11 offspring. Her name came after her birth, when her father said “That’s a Plenty.” The family is often on hard times in the early 1950s, and the daughter finds innovative ways of making friends. There’s several mysteries in her surroundings to this growing-up young lady, who is introduced to another world through getting more education than do her siblings. She also has an ally in the son of the landowner, who is first reluctant, then diligent in protecting Plenty. This book is a fast read, as the author keeps the pages turning. It’s a refreshing story, which makes you want to hear more from this author. This book surprised me though our Little Free Library. –eeb
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb
Blueberries and strawberries becoming dynamic enterprises in Georgia
The Georgia blueberry and strawberry industries are dynamic enterprises of relatively recent development. The blueberry industry is concentrated in the flatwoods of southeast Georgia and ships fruit all over the world. The strawberry industry is spread throughout the state and caters mainly to Georgia customers.
The development of the blueberry industry is an interesting story. Local fishermen in Brunswick and Toomsboro had collected some of the best wild berries from the Satilla and Withlachoochee rivers of south Georgia. These selections were crossed with selections from west Florida to create cultivars (cultivated varieties) of rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium ashei). Since 1944 the University of Georgia has maintained a blueberry breeding program and released twelve cultivars of rabbiteye blueberries. These cultivars have formed the basis for the Georgia blueberry industry.
In the early 1970s the first blueberry cooperative was formed in Alma. Today there are two primary market outlets for distant shippers of blueberries: one in Michigan and one in Florida.
Starting in the mid-1990s southern highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum hybrids) have been grown in significant quantities in Georgia. In south Georgia southern highbush blueberries ripen in April and May, and rabbiteyes ripen in late May, June, and July. Today more than 200 growers have planted about 5,500 acres, concentrated in the southeastern corner of the state, from Valdosta (Lowndes County) eastward to Nahunta (Brantley County) and northward to Baxley (Appling County). Fourteen packing plants export the fruit to markets throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan. About 30 to 50 percent of the crop is sold fresh, and the rest is processed into frozen berries.
Mechanical harvesters are used to gather the crop for the processed market. Pick-your-own and direct-sales blueberry farms are scattered throughout the state as well. In 2003 Georgia produced 17 million pounds of blueberries valued at $18.7 million. Georgia ranks third in the nation in acreage and in some years fourth in production of cultivated blueberries.
Blueberries require a strongly acid soil for good growth. Rabbiteye blueberries perform best on soil with a good organic matter content (2 percent or more), and southern highbush berries require a higher organic matter soil (3 percent or more) for best growth. Most growers plant on sites rich in organic matter or mix peat moss or milled pine bark with the soil.
The Georgia strawberry industry primarily consists of small family farms that offer fresh, “vine ripe” berries as a pick-your-own or direct-sales crop. In 2002 there were sixty direct-sales and two wholesale-only farms in operation. About ten growers are involved in distant shipping of strawberries. Total acreage is about 300, and the 2002 farm gate value (the value of the crop as it leaves the farm) was about $4.4 million.
Chandler and Camarosa, developed in California, are the two most popular strawberry cultivars grown in Georgia. Both produce large, tasty fruit. Normally strawberries are grown as annuals in Georgia, with drip irrigation under plastic mulch. The raised beds and plastic mulch help to keep the leaves and fruit clean, reducing plant diseases and improving fruit quality. The crop ripens primarily from March through May in south Georgia and from April through June in north Georgia.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Maybe the architecture will give away the identity of this photo
Let this edition’s Mystery Photo wander through your mind a bit, and it may come to you. It’s certainly not a modern setting. Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.
Last issue’s Mystery Photo nearly mystified everyone, except Allan Peel of Peachtree Corners.
Nimitz
He writes: “The photo shows the National Museum of the Pacific War, located in Fredericksburg, Texas. It’s a fascinating and educational museum, and can easily take an entire day to visit thoroughly. Who would have thought that such a great museum would have been located In such a small town in Texas Hill Country. Fredericksburg is the birthplace of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Of the Allied Forces, Pacific Area.” The photo came from Jerry Colley of Alpharetta, who also sent along a bronze statue photo of the admiral.
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 costumes.
(NEW) Beauty and the Beast 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 costumes.
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.
(NEW) 11th Annual Supplier Symposium for firms wanting to do business with Gwinnett County. The symposium will be April 11 starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center. Attendees will meet buyers and contracting officers from the Purchasing Division and other metro Atlanta agencies and take advantage of networking opportunities designed to create relationships. For more information about the event and to register, visit http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/portal/gwinnett/Departments/FinancialServices/Purchasing/SupplierSymposium.
HANDYMAN SERVICES: Whatever your home maintenance problem is, Isaias Rodriguez can help. An experienced painter, he is dependable in installing or repairing siding, gutters, ceramic tile, plumbing, garage doors, or any other problem around your home. He’ll even fix your bike! He is originally from Mexico and has been in Georgia since 1996. He is legally allowed to work in the United States and is insured. Give him a call at his home in Norcross at 404-569-8825 or email him at rodriguez_isais@yahoo.com Visit his Facebook page at Neza construction and home repair to see some of his past work.
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