COVETED CUP: Members of the GFWC Lilburn Woman’s Club received the coveted 2014 Georgia Federation Cup Award at the recent GFWC convention held in Macon earlier this month. The silver cup is awarded to one club annually in the state for overall excellence in departmental work, including a focus in the arts, education, conservation, domestic violence awareness, home life, international outreach and public issues. . From left are Co-President Linda Newton, Laura Byrd, Co-President Judy Nash, Pat Swan, Kathy Shepherd, Jackie Thornberry, Lee Jurjevich, 2014 Past President Patty Gabilondo, Jeannie Schweck and Diane DeGaetano. The last time the club received this recognition was in 1979. With over 78 members, the Lilburn Woman’s Club received a variety of other awards including Best in State for their Arts and Home Life programs, Leadership, Communications plus special citations for their Legislative and Conservation “Go Native” activities.
ISSUE 15.18 | June 2, 2015IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: City of Sugar Hill Starts Thursdays@TheHill on June 11
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Somehow, Something Says That Hillary Is Not the 45th President
FEEDBACK: Missed Memorial Day Parade Recognition; Loved Comeback on Southerners
UPCOMING: Snellville Farmers’ Market To Open Season on June 6
NOTABLE: County Supervisors Create Little Free Library for Rich Martin Homes Area
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Right or Not, Brunswick, Ga. Lays Claim to Origin of Brunswick Stew
TODAY’S QUOTE Here’s What Our Politicians Should Be Doing
MYSTERY PHOTO: No One Recognized a Tree Growing in Spain
LAGNIAPPE: AARP Tax Volunteers at Gwinnett Tech
TODAY’S FOCUS
Sugar Hill kicks off Thursdays@TheHill on June 11
By Scott Andrews
SUGAR HILL, Ga. June 2, 2015 | The sweet life in Sugar Hill is about to get a little sweeter. Thursdays@The Hill, which will feature food trucks, a farmers’ market, live music, cornhole and more, will be held on the second Thursday of each month through October, the first starting June 11.
Food truck fans can expect different types of food at each Thursdays@The Hill event. Sugar Hill residents and neighbors are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs and picnic on the greenspace in front of City Hall while listening to live entertainment. City officials are excited to become a part of the food truck culture that continues to grow in popularity in the Atlanta area.
Gwinnett Cornhole has teamed up with the city and up-and-coming downtown Sugar Hill restaurant, DaddyO’s Irish Ice Cream Pub, to form a summer cornhole league. (Cornhole, also known as Tailgate, bean bag toss, doghouse, or simply Bags, is a lawn game in which players take turns throwing bags of corn at a raised platform with a hole in the far end.) Gwinnett Cornhole has been successful with leagues in the surrounding communities of Suwanee, Buford, and Flowery Branch.
Now Sugar Hill is ready to bring the competition to its home field. Teams or individuals can sign up for the league at www.gwinnettcornhole.com. No experience is necessary and it is a great way to build camaraderie with co-workers or bring the family together for an evening of competition.
The City of Sugar Hill is also looking forward to having its first Farmers Market in conjunction with the Thursday night event. Farm-fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs and more will be available. Buying local helps to grow the community and is important to local economy. Sugar Hill officials look forward to being a part of having fresh, healthy food options more readily available. A free “Grow Your Community” sticker is available at no cost at the service desk at City Hall.
Mayor Steve Edwards invites residents and neighboring cities to join in on the excitement, “Come join us at this event for great food and fun. Thursdays@The Hill is a great way to bring the community together.”
Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Hembree is excited about this next step for Downtown Sugar Hill, “The best downtowns are those that are filled with people. With food trucks, an outside market, and a cornhole league, Thursdays@The Hill, Downtown Sugar Hill will be the place to be beginning June 11.”
Thursdays@The Hill is just part of the line-up of events that Sugar Hill is hosting this summer. The Sweet Life Concert Series is also underway with upcoming acts such as The Voice’s Danielle Bradbery and Country Music star Travis Tritt. Details on these events can be found at www.thebowlatsugarhill.com.
The Thursday night food and fun will begin on June 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Sugar Hill’s City Hall. Invite your friends, family, and co-workers and get ready to enjoy excellent food, live music, and have a sweet time.
EEB PERSPECTIVESomething tells some of us Hillary will not be the next president
By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 2, 2015 | Though many have virtually already elected Hillary Rodham Clinton as the next president, somehow…..somehow we don’t think she will even get the nomination.
That would be a major shift in what the experts think will happen. It’s to the point that we even heard a stockbroker making stock-buying decisions based on his thinking that Ms. Clinton will in 2017 become the 45th president of the United States. Others who watch politics closely have told us that they don’t feel that Ms. Clinton will be the nominee.
All this is not to forecast that a Republican will be elected president. Polls have consistently reported that the country is leaning much more Democratic than Republican. For a Republican to be elected, there will have to be a weak Democratic candidate in 2016, and the vastly-split Republican camp will have to come amazingly together.
The decision by Maryland Gov. (D) Martin O’Malley last week to jump into the races shows that at least he feels that, though distant, he has a chance at becoming the nominee. Yet there are few other Democrats willing to go up against the vast money machine that Ms. Clinton has already accumulated, and the anticipated contributions she can foresee.
Several other people have decided to run for the Democratic nomination. Senator Jim Webb and Andrew Cuomo are often mentioned, as is Joe Biden. And Bernie Sanders, an independent, is already running. Others, many of whom we know little, are listed as possibilities, including Lincoln Chafee, Kristen Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Dennis Kucinich, Brian Schweitzer, Mark Warner and even Elizabeth Warren.
Hillary Clinton
Who could upend the Clinton candidacy? We wouldn’t guess.
But still, doubts arise among some of us.
Of course, when it comes to the Republican nomination, the field is so vast that there is concern of fitting all together on the stage for a debate. Certainly the large field would make a true debate virtually impossible. Yet television plows away anticipating some way of making such news events malleable.
The GOP list is massive: we list them alphabetically: Jeb Bush, Benjamin Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina. Lindsay Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump (“Ha!”) and Scott Walker.
Whew! Sixteen…..and counting. Even others might get the itch.
Now consider: of all these people, Democrats and Republicans, do you consider any of them presidential? Do you want to trust any of them with leading our country for four years, or even eight?
Makes you wish for some of the leadership of the older days, doesn’t it?
Yet one of these people, or maybe even some sleeper candidate not even mentioned yet, will eventually be leading our country. It may take some calamitous event to vault someone into the public eye that would propel him or her self into a credible candidate. It probably won’t happen. Pat Paulsen may even turn up again.
Yet it may take a major turn-of-events to elect our next president, no matter what party.
Meanwhile, the people of Iowa and New Hampshire and even South Carolina are getting drop-ins by the hopeful candidates these days. Some how, some way, in our bumbling and ungainly picking of leaders, we’ll move on to a new president. But though many feel it’ll be Hillary, somehow we don’t. –
Only two Gwinnett history books remain: Bid now!
Only two books of Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, remain. Bidding for the next-to-last book begins at $80. If you are wanting a copy of this 850 page history of Gwinnett Count, send in your bid by email today to elliott@brack.net.
Once a bid is received, subsequent bids must increase by $10 This bidding for the next-to-last book will end at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 4. These two books are the last in circulation from the second printing. GwinnettForum, publishers of the book, says that there will not be a third printing. So, if interested in Gwinnett history, now’s the time to move with this bidding. Proceeds from the bidding of the last five books will benefit the Salvation Army.
IN THE SPOTLIGHTArbor-Nomics Tree Service
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Arbor-Nomics Tree Service of Norcross. As a full-service tree expert, Arbor-Nomics offers the full range of tree care, from pruning, diagnostics, fertil
izing and tree appraisal, to careful removal of limbs or the entire tree. In business since 1980, the company owner, Barry Smith, has a degree in forestry from the University of Kentucky. Customers continually praise the company efforts, such as “roping off limbs when cutting, to protect plants below.” Happy customers continue to return.
- To learn more, visit www.arbor-nomicstree.com, or call 770-368-0072.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to https://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.htm.
Disappointed with coverage of Memorial Day Parade in Dacula
Editor, the Forum:
It was with disappointment when reading your coverage of the City of Dacula Memorial Day parade that no mention (nor any photos) was made of the Grand Marshal, Capt. Charles G. Mitchell. I consider it a personal honor to call Mr. Mitchell my neighbor, my friend and my hero. This world needs as many heroes in today’s turbulent times as we can get. Mr. Mitchell sure fits the bill.
A WWII and Korean War vet, he has served his country with distinction and honor. He is a Purple Heart recipient and a Bronze Star winner. They don’t give out those awards lightly.
We need to cherish those that are still standing upright who did their duty when they saw it. Mr. Mitchell is a real American hero and I honor him every day, and count myself lucky to call him friend.
— Dave Robertson, Lawrenceville
Dear Mr. Robertson: No media can cover everything in any story. However, we think it is more important to have recognized the parade marshal PRIOR to the event, which we did. We all agree persons serving the country as he did are today’s heroes. –eeb
Pleased to see comeback about the Southerners
Editor, the Forum:
I read Debra Houston’s article and all I can say is…. she concisely nailed Mr. Wilson’s hide to the wall! As I said earlier, Mr. Wilson sounds like a secular progressive, and I would venture a bet that he is not a Southerner. I could not have written a rebuttal even close to Ms. Houston’s.
— David Earl Tyre, Jesup
Dear David Earl: You are wrong. Mr. Wilson hails from Burlington, N.C. -eeb
UPCOMINGSnellville Farmers’ Market Begins Season on Saturday, June 6
Snellville’s Farmers’ Market will kick off its 2015 season with new hours June 6. The market, held each Saturday on the Towne Green in front of City Hall on Oak Road, will now have hours from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The market will run from June 6 to Sept. 26. There will not be a market on July 4.
A bulk of the vendors from last year are returning and there will be new ones as well. Some new products customers will see at the market include:
- Handmade market totes;
- Infused sea salt;
- Kettle corn in a variety of flavors;
- Garlic butter sauce made with a longtime family recipe;
- Natural laundry detergent, dryer products, dishwasher soap and cleaning spray;
- Homemade pastas, tomato sauces and salad dressings; and
- New baked goods vendors.
Market Organizer Gretchen Schulz says: “Farmers markets are so popular because people want to ‘Buy Local,’ a theme that is continually emphasized by our City Council. When making purchases, they enjoy talking to the farmer who has grown the produce, the beekeeper who manages his hives and bottles honey within five miles of the market, the mushroom farmer who grows mushrooms just down the road, and the baker who makes a delicious variety of breads.”
Because the market is run by volunteers, the money it generates can go back to the community. The market has made significant donations to the Snellville Veterans Memorial, the Community Garden @Snellville, and most recently, the Southeast Gwinnett Co-op food bank. For more information on the market visit www.snellvillefarmersmarket.com.
Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful introduces new website for 35th year
As part of Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s 35th anniversary, the environmentally focused non-profit is unveiling a newly redesigned website. The organization’s new tagline has also been debuted on the site, as the homepage extols the message, “This is Our Community. This is Our Gwinnett.”
The new GwinnettCB.org features a combination of compelling environmental and community images, as well as a series of pages that outline:
- “What You Can Do” tips to help make Gwinnett a cleaner, greener, more livable community at home, in the neighborhood, at work, and at school;
- What can be recycled and where;
- One click links to volunteer for or donate to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful;
- Teaching and learning tools for educators; and
- The latest news about everything green and clean in Gwinnett.
Lindsey Marshall, Red Clay Interactive Account Director, says: “Creating a new online brand gives us an opportunity to reintroduce GCB as the community-based organization that works to make Gwinnett America’s greenest, cleanest community. Ultimately the new website is for the citizens of Gwinnett County, to inspire them to make their community great and give them actionable ways to get involved.”
NOTABLECounty supervisors dedicate Little Free Library in Lawrenceville
Members of the Gwinnett County Executive Competence, Excellence and Leadership (EXCEL) management development program hosted a dedication ceremony for a Little Free Library at the Rich Martin Community located at 160 Ezzard Street in Lawrenceville. The ceremony was on May 29.
The 20 EXCEL participants, who are Gwinnett County Government managers and supervisors, partnered with the Lawrenceville Housing Authority to build and install the Little Free Library in addition to an outdoor bench for the children residing in the Rich Martin Community to enjoy.
In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box of books where anyone may stop by to pick up a book (or two) and/or bring back another book to share. In January 2015, the total number of registered Little Free Libraries in the world was estimated to be nearly 25,000, with thousands more being built.
The Rich Martin Community is one of the sites established and maintained by the Lawrenceville Housing Authority.
Project spokesperson Sally Sherrington says: “We believe that books are an essential part of a child’s early learning development. Through this project, the 2015 EXCEL class hopes to bring books to children who may not have access to a library, computer or the Internet.”
Community response to the project has been generous. Lowes of Suwanee, Luxury Landscape of Lawrenceville and The First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville have all helped bring the vision to life with donated materials and lunches for the children on the day of the dedication.
Jackson EMC to use 10 percent of Hazlehurst solar power unit
Jackson EMC President/CEO Chip Jakins announces that its renewable energy supplier, Green Power EMC, has reached an agreement to purchase the full output of a new 52-Megawatt solar array planned for construction in Jeff Davis County near Hazlehurst. Jackson EMC is among 27 Georgia electric cooperatives that will receive solar energy from the project, helping to make Georgia the fastest-growing solar state in the U.S. Jackson EMC members will receive roughly 5 MW of the plant’s total output.
According to Jakins, the 52-MW solar array will occupy approximately 600 acres, includes technology that allows the panels to track the sun from east to west, and will produce enough electricity to serve approximately 8,500 EMC households. Once completed, the 52-MW array will generate more than 134 million kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable electricity annually. That amount of clean energy offsets 92,500 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to burning 10.4 million gallons of gasoline, or the emissions from more than 19,500 automobiles.
This is the second such agreement that Green Power EMC has executed with owner-operator Silicon Ranch Corporation. Under the agreement, Silicon Ranch will own and operate the solar array, and Green Power EMC will purchase all the energy and environmental attributes it produces at cost-competitive rates over a 30-year period. Construction on the 52-MW array is scheduled to begin later in 2015. The facility will be ready to produce electricity in the fall of 2016.
Jakins said the 52-MW solar project is the result of a request for proposals issued in late 2013 to add more solar energy to Green Power EMC’s portfolio. The company provides renewable energy to 38 of Georgia’s EMCs. “The addition of one of the largest solar projects in Georgia to our power generation portfolio not only demonstrates our commitment to Georgia’s renewable resources, it also allows our member consumers the choice of purchasing competitively priced solar energy,” said Jakins. “We are excited to be a part of this major expansion of solar energy in Georgia.”
Collectively, the two Hazlehurst projects are one of the largest solar generating facilities in Georgia and will propel Jeff Davis County into position as one of the top solar communities in the United States.
Concerts on Lawrenceville Lawn now going on
Roving Photographer Frank Sharp captured this scene from concerts at the Lawrenceville Lawn. Such concerts will continue during the summer. In this photo, it was on May 29 and featured Connor Christian and The Southern Gothic. Other concerts this summer include June 26, Abbey Road; July 31, The Daniel Lee Band; August 28, Shawn Mullins; and September 25, Reuben’s Bell. There is no admission charge for the concerts, which begin at 7 p.m. Bring your chairs or blankets, pack a picnic dinner, discover a new favorite food truck meal, or have dinner at one of the restaurants on the Square, then enjoy the short one-block walk down to the Lawn before the music begins!
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 TIDBITRight or not, Brunswick, Ga., lays claim to origin of Brunswick stew
Brunswick, Georgia, claims to be the place of origin for Brunswick stew. A twenty-five-gallon iron pot outside that coastal town bears a plaque declaring it to be the vessel in which this favorite southern food was first cooked in 1898.
In truth, the one-pot meal is credited to a number of places with Brunswick in their names, but the honor (so far as the name is concerned) must go to Brunswick County, Virginia. There, according to an entrenched local tradition supported by a 1988 Virginia General Assembly proclamation, Jimmy Matthews, an African American hunting-camp cook, concocted a squirrel stew for his master, Creed Haskins, in 1828, the stew being named for its home county.
As the Georgia humorist Roy Blount Jr. quipped, “Brunswick stew is what happens when small mammals carrying ears of corn fall into barbeque pits.” Stews that combine meat and grain probably originated with ancient agriculturalists, in both the Old and New Worlds.
According to the anthropologist Charles Hudson, Southeastern Indians made a stew from hominy and groundhog or squirrel, and also boiled bear and deer meat with fresh corn kernels and squash. Brunswick stew belongs to a family of southern stews, its closest relative perhaps being Kentucky burgoo.
Good-natured “stew wars” continue to rage between Georgia and Virginia. If Georgia acquired Brunswick stew relatively late (south Georgian J. L. Herring, describing a ca. 1880 July Fourth barbecue in Saturday Night Sketches [1918], declares, “There was no Brunswick stew in those days”), the state has taken to the dish with great enthusiasm. Wild game like squirrel or rabbit is now often replaced by chicken, pork, or beef (sometimes in combination). Virtually any vegetable and seasoning can be added to the requisite meat, corn, and tomatoes, but onions, lima beans, and potatoes commonly make an appearance.
In an unusual recipe from Toccoa, cooked-down maraschino cherries, lemons, and applesauce contribute a subtle sweet-sour flavor.
Frequently associated with barbecue and presided over by stew “masters” when made in quantity, Brunswick stew remains a customary feature of Georgia fund-raisers, political rallies, and family reunions like that of the Sproulls in Bartow County. In today’s age of individualism, the preparation and consumption of Brunswick stew as a social activity is now more important than ever in supporting community cohesion.
- To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Become a Mystery Photo expert
Identify this photo and you’ll be recognized as the Mystery Photo expert. Looks like a castle or bell tower or folly? Where is it? You guess and send your answers to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include where you live.
It was a simple Mystery Photo of trees growing, though something had happened to the bottom of the tree. It’s from Southern Spain, where Tom Merkel of Berkeley Lake got a photograph of cork trees after they have been stripped of their cork. The cork and bark is cut off about a cork oak tree in about one to two inches thick, and the cork is harvested. It takes 9-12 years for the tree to rejuvenate more cork and bark. Cork trees are protected in part of Portugal, which produces 50 percent of the world’s cork. Unhappily, no GwinnettForum reader recognized the cork tree.
Whoops. Misspoke who sent in the recent Corinth Canal photo. It was from Scott LeCraw of Suwanee. Our pardons!
LAGNIAPPETax team
A team of AARP Tax-Aide volunteers serving residents at Gwinnett Technical College this tax season set a new record. The team of 17 volunteers filed 1,026 returns, compared to 921 last year. Each year, Gwinnett Tech partners with AARP Tax-Aide to provide free income tax preparation and tax counseling for community residents, including Gwinnett Tech students and college team members. This year, the volunteers saved the individuals they helped a total of more than $300,000. Among the team members from left, seated, are Ronda Bendig, Robin Alcorn-Jones and Joe Tribble. Standing are Bernie Guerin, John Fletcher, Andy Lederman, Roger Turner, Floyd Berger, David McGlothlin, and Junior Pavik. For next year’s tax season, Gwinnett Tech plans to offer tax preparation two evenings during the week and again on Saturday mornings. Those interested in becoming part of the program as a volunteer should contact Joe Tribble at joetribble@tribble-taxaide.net.
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