DOUBLE DUTY: Standing under a pavilion on Sapelo Island are those who attended a dedication of a library pavilion, which serves not only as a refuge from the sun, but also to house solar panels that provide electricity for the Sapelo Island Library. Learn more in This Edition below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Helping Coastal Island by Providing Solar Power for Its Library
EEB PERSPECTIVE: You Get Good Vibrations When Talking to Loganville Mayor
SPOTLIGHT: Gateway85 Gwinnett
FEEDBACK: Considering a Different Climate Change and How It Affected History
UPCOMING: County Tells Names of Four Citizen Members of Budget Review Team
NOTABLE: GGC Provides Part-Time Job Fair To Engage Its Students
RECOMMENDED: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers
GEORGIA TIDBIT: North Georgia Sketches Provided Turning Point for Will Harben in 1900
MYSTERY PHOTO: An Idyllic Setting of a Spire Is Today’s Mystery Photo
CALENDAR: Info on Foster Parenting set for Thursday at Norcross Library
Helping coastal island by providing solar power for its library
Tim Echols and Dr. Carolyn Dowse, for whom the pavilion is named.
By Tim Echols, vice chair
Georgia Public Service Commission
SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. | Just north of the well-visited St. Simons and Sea Islands in southeast Georgia, there exists an isolated barrier island rich with history and a tiny Gullah Geechee community called Hog Hammock. And in the middle of that community is a modest library—that now is powered by solar.
The idea started when I was visiting the island with a new resident—a black attorney from Boston who challenged me to find a way to meaningfully help the descendants of enslaved West Africans brought to the island 300 years ago to work on island plantations. We settled on figuring out a way to bolster the community library—which sat in the heart of the community.
I went back to Atlanta and shared the vision with a newly formed organization of large-scale solar developers whose members were building solar farms across middle and south Georgia. The Public Service Commission has been commissioning vast amounts of market-based solar since 2011. These companies were a part of that success.
Stepping forward to lead the project were two University of Georgia guys (Greg White and Scott Wolfrey), who had formed a company called Southern Current. Joining them in the effort was a French energy company called EDF, whose Lynnae Willet was intrigued by the French history of Sapelo. Rounding out the quartet was my friend Dave Raught who works for Yellawood, the pressure-treated pine company, who volunteered to supply all the wood for the project.
It was decided after looking at the library and its roof that the mission to solarize the library would be better accomplished by building a pavilion to hold the panels next door to the library. That was considered better than roof-mounting the panels and risking any leaks that might damage artifacts in the important community structure. Such a pavilion could double as a picnic area at the adjacent playground and provide needed shade to any who might find themselves there.
With the financial resources in place, the Department of Natural Resources staff began barging the materials over and in short order the project was completed. Within 48 hours, the pavilion not only provided all of the daytime energy needed by the library, but it pushed back 25 kilowatt hours to the grid triggering a credit on the library’s power bill.
At the ribbon-cutting, it was my honor to dedicate and name the pavilion for Dr. Carolyn Dowse—who was instrumental in starting the Hog Hammock Library. Surrounded by residents and visitors, our small group celebrated the merger of technology and history.
Solar is good for Georgia and great for Hog Hammock. Let’s keep it going.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
You get good vibrations when talking to Loganville mayor
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 27, 2019 | You get a lot of good vibes when driving around Loganville, which is partly in Gwinnett, and the eastern-most city and one of the oldest (1887) of the county. A majority of Loganville is in Walton County.
Everywhere you turn, it seems clean and neat. You might even spot Mayor Rey Martinez from time to time out picking up trash such as Styrofoam cups, to make sure the place is neat. It’s not every mayor who is so particular and willing to regularly pick up trash to insure his city is clean.
He’s quoted as saying: “We all need to combine our efforts to ensure that the City of Loganville leaves a great first impression on those visiting – and that impression is that we are a community proud to call Loganville our home.”
Rey and Ana Martinez. Photo courtesy Gwinnett Daily Post.
U.S. Highway 78 is the main commercial stretch, with many of the key big-box stores and popular chains finding Loganville for locations. This has taken place in the last few years, as Loganville has quickly grown to about 13,000 people. It was only 5,435 back at the 2000 census.
The recent influx of new people keep the place vibrant. Back in 2017, the city relocated its city hall, needing more space, to the former Elementary School at Main Street and Georgia Highway 20, after rehabbing that building. But now there is even talk among city leaders of planning a new city hall, more in the center of town near the Old Well on Main Street.
Mayor Martinez is in his first term as mayor, the first Hispanic mayor in Georgia. He previously served eight years after being elected to the City Council in 2010. He clearly enjoys his public position, reaching out to help people and working with people in all walks of life. He particularly likes to visit with school children, and talk with them. He wants to be an inspiration for other Latino children.
The mayor is of Cuban descent, after being born in Puerto Rico. He came to the United States when eight years old with his parents through Miami. He learned English through the ESOL program, but it was hard; he failed fourth grade.
He has been in Loganville since 2007. He’s a businessman, his firm known as Rey’s Cuban Food, and he is a professional caterer. He enjoys serving food from his Cuban heritage. “Cooking Cuban food is a passion of mine.”
He’s a past president of the Walton Lions Club; serves on the Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind as a board member, and has been on the Walton County Development Authority. He visited the White House as part of the National Hispanic month in 2018.
His wife is Ana, of Chile. They have two sons, both in military service. Rey himself is retired from the Naval Reserve after 25 years of service, including eight years on active duty. That includes three tours overseas, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Dubai.
Rey Martinez has become active in political circles. Governor Nathan Deal appointed him to serve on the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity in 2015. And Gov. Brian Kemp this year appointed him to the board of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association.
He was chair of the Hispanics for Trump in 2016.
Among the projects he’s proud of, the City of Loganville issued $15million in water bonds for expansion. That included laying groundwork for a water line to Monroe to provide another source of water.
That’s Rey Martinez, one of Gwinnett’s newest mayors. You’re gonna hear more from him in the future.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Gateway85 Gwinnett
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Gateway85 Gwinnett is a self-taxing community improvement district that includes just over 800 commercial property owners with a property value of over $1 billion. Gateway85 includes the southwestern part of Gwinnett County including properties along Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Buford Highway, Indian Trail, and Beaver Ruin Rd. Gateway 85 is one of six CIDs to be created in Gwinnett County and is the largest of all CIDs in the state. The community is an economic powerhouse that helps fuel the regional economy. More than 3,600 companies (employing roughly 36,000 people) call Gateway85 home. The jobs in the district account for almost 12 percent of Gwinnett County’s total employment and support $2 billion in annual payroll. Gateway85 Gwinnett‘s mission is to improve property values through increased security, a decrease in traffic congestion, and general improvements to the curb appeal of the area. The CID moved their offices to 1770 Indian Trail-Lilburn Road, Norcross and recently rebranded to reflect the strong future of this area. It was previously known as Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District. For more information visit https://www.gateway85.com/ or call 770-449-6542.
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Considering a different climate change and how it affected history
Editor, the Forum:
Float back in time more than 700 years to June 24, 1314 and King Edward II of England and his massive army are retreating from Bannockburn. They notice the weather is unusually stormy for June.
Scotland gains freedom and not just the weather turns worse for Edward II. I wonder, should his son have reconsidered his invasion of France mid-century, considering the continued deteriorating climate? The Little Ice Age had taken hold by then and grain producing countries began to starve. Should Edward III have proclaimed calamity and subject his people to lifestyle changes to avert this climate change?
Well, he attacked with the new professional army developed by his earlier relatives. Taxes went through the roof, the bubonic plague kicked in, and a series of wars continued for around a hundred years. Yet, no leader ever called for a cleaner heating or lifestyle change. They did claim God had forsaken them. They did think it may have been their sin, but never attributed their calamity to burning wood or coal or how they disposed of waste. The war ended. The plague did too, yet it showed up again from time to time. Darn rats.
The Little Ice Age continued for hundreds of years. Tuberous crops like beets and potatoes saved people from starving. France never made that adjustment. That probably contributed to their revolution. I have read that the Industrial Revolution and its smoke stacks may have brought an end to the Little Ice Age. I suppose that’s 500 years of harsh climate and suffering with no reaction. Before it began, France complained that Wessex was making a better claret than Bordeaux and sales were off. That’s how good things were in England.
— Byron Gilbert, Duluth
Come on, Byron. You know well enough that not enough analytical scientists had started collecting much data then about anything, the planets, the geography, gravity, or even the weather. In effect, climate warming via the Industrial Revolution snuck up on ‘em. And it’s still continuing. –eeb
Presidents since Johnson have unconditionally supported Israel
Editor, the Forum:
Concerning: American presidents supporting Israel.
Byron Gilbert iterates a history of consistent support of Israel by United States presidents, but it hasn’t been easy. President Truman’s decision to support statehood was gut-wrenching as he was appalled at the moral flip of American Jews who were icons of social justice here yet racial supremacists when it came to Israel. He did not want to open the possibility where U.S. serviceman could die in defense of racism.
In the end, he needed the support of New York Jews in the 1948 election and thus went against his own cabinet. Support for Israel involved swallowing bitter pills by Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Bush I.
Unconditional support for Israel began in earnest with Lyndon Johnson, which coincided with the birth of ‘Islamic terrorism.’ Johnson’s zeal for Israel has not been matched until Donald Trump, although Bush Jr.’s bogus ‘Roadmap’ was a blank check to Israeli exploitation of Palestinian civil and land rights.
— Joe Briggs, Suwanee
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
County announces names of citizen members of budget review team
County elected officials, department directors, and agency heads will present their business plans and financial resource requests for budget year 2020 beginning Monday, Aug. 26. The presentations will be heard by the budget review team made up of six Gwinnett residents who were invited by Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash to help set priorities and make recommendations for the proposed budget.
Thuy Hotle, a retired planner with the County’s Department of Planning and Development and Asif Jessani, principal marketing and technology consultant with CCS: Marketing and Technology are new to the committee this year. They join four budget review team veterans: David Cuffie, CEO, Total Vision Consulting LLC; Norwood Davis, CFO, 12Stone Church; Santiago Marquez, President and CEO, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and Keith Roche, a Lawrenceville city councilman and retired business executive. Jessani and Cuffie both graduated from the Gwinnett 101 Citizens Academy.
“Putting together a budget is one of the most important things we do as a board, and it only makes sense that we do it with input from our residents,” Nash said. “As they consider fiscal requests, each member of the budget review team brings unique life experiences, opinions and preferences. That helps ensure the final budget better reflects the needs and desires of our community. I am grateful to each of the folks on the team for their service and for the collective wisdom they bring to the process.”
The Chairman’s 2020 budget proposal will be made available to the public and news media on Nov. 19 in conjunction with its formal presentation to the district commissioners, and the budget public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12.
Special Needs School to break ground on new building Tuesday
Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett is to break ground Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. on an historic school expansion. The school is located at 660 Davis Road in Lawrenceville. The school is a 501(c)3 non-profit operation.
Work is anticipated to be completed on the new facility in the spring of 2020. Spectrum Building Systems and the Dickerson Group are doing the work. The facility currently operates out of two houses and modular units on the property.
Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett opened its doors 30 years ago and is to break ground on a new facility on its 7.4-acre property. The school currently operates out of two aging homes and three temporary classroom trailers that have a total maximum capacity of 60 students. The Young Adult program is temporarily being housed at a local church, since the school is currently over capacity with 75 students. The ground-breaking marks the beginning of the second phase of a four-phase development plan.
This building phase will include the construction of a school building that houses seven classrooms, two therapy rooms, offices, lunchroom, and lobby/reception area. This phase will increase the school’s capacity to 80 students and is expected to be completed at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett also plans a third phase of construction that will include the addition of 14 classrooms to increase capacity from 80 to 200. Phase Four will include constructing a multipurpose building and activities room that will accommodate therapy treatment, physical education activities, school program activities, and community events.
- To learn more about Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett, visit specialneedsschools.org.
Aurora Theatre seeking Latino child actors for upcoming play
Aurora Theatre seeks Latino child actors to portray the roles of young Emilio and Gloria Estefan in the regional premiere of the Broadway hit, “On Your Feet.”
Does your child have what it takes to play an icon of the music industry at the second largest professional theater in Georgia? Find out as open auditions will be held on Friday, September 20, 2019 from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Aurora Theatre. The theater is looking for boys ages 8-12 and girls ages 11-14. This is a professional production; all actors will be paid.
On Your Feet! is the true story about heart, heritage and two people who believed in their talent—and each other—to become international superstars: Gloria and Emilio Estefan. The musical sensation is a dance party that features favorite songs. The show will run March 5 – April 19, with rehearsals beginning on February 2, 2020. Aurora will seek 2-6 youth actors for each available role because of the time commitment of the project.
For the role of Little Gloria, Aurora Theatre seeks a female actor, aged 10–14. The character is Cuban and innocent, but smart and self-reliant. She’s slightly sad but always full of hope. Talent must speak fluent Spanish and sing well. Young male talent should be aged 8–12, must speak fluent Spanish, be a good mover, but they do not need to sing. Boys auditioning for Little Emilio will do readings from a selection of two scenes from the show.
- To schedule an audition appointment, email casting@auroratheatre.com along with a headshot and resume of the child being considered. Aurora recommends that the child memorize their lines before coming to the audition: it will make them more confident and less nervous. Aurora Theatre is only seeking Latinx children.
GGC provides part-time job fair to engage its students
Georgia Gwinnett College’s Career Development Center, in collaboration with 57 local employers, presented the college’s annual Part-Time Job Fair last week. More than 450 students attended the Part-Time Job Fair, which included employers from a variety of industries ranging from banking and nonprofits to food service and hospice.
Dr. Roslyn Brown, director of Career Development, says: “Many GGC students work to support their education and their families,” said. “The Part-Time Job Fair connects students with local organizations for off-campus employment opportunities.”
However, the event is about more than just finding part-time work. This event also introduces students to the programming and events offered by the Career Development Center.
Brown adds: “The Career Development Center provides programs that enhance the career readiness of students. The Part-Time Job Fair offers opportunities for students to learn how to articulate their relevant skills and network with professionals. Once they acquire a position, the experiences they gain will further develop their employability skills.”
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill | When you put the country’s top mythology expert, Joseph Campbell, together with a gifted and insightful journalist like Bill Moyers, you are pretty much guaranteed a deep and intelligent dialogue. That’s what you get in The Power of Myth. A conversation between Moyers and the late Professor Campbell, this book is a bantering back and forth of timeless ideas about mythology, religion and psychology. Not telling whole stories but just bits and pieces of various myths, Campbell and Moyers discuss the evolution and universality of these myths and how, through the ages, myths have provided a cultural framework for societies. They have given us the inspiration and courage to face our trials and help us pass through the different stages of our lives. The deeper you get into this book, the better it gets. And it’s just as good today as it was when I first read it in 1988.
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. Send to: elliott@brack.net
North Georgia Sketches providing turning point for Harben in 1900
(Continued from previous edition)
The turning point for Will Harben occurred in 1900, when he published Northern Georgia Sketches, a collection of ten of his best local-color stories. The book brought him renewed national attention as well as the high regard of William Dean Howells, known as the “dean of American letters,” who became Harben’s mentor and friend. For the next 19 years Harben published at least one novel a year and many short stories, most of them featuring the picturesque Georgia hillbillies for which he became well known.
Harben
Harben excelled in creating memorable characters of older backwoods men and women, including Abner Daniel, a cracker-box philosopher noted for such witticisms as “The wust things I ever seed was sometimes at the root o’ the best. Manure is a bad thing, but a cake of it will produce a daisy bigger’n any in the field.” Pole Baker, a younger, cruder version of Abner, also has a way with words: “Well, boys, ef I had to go, I’d like to be melted up into puore corn whiskey an’ poured through my throat tell thar wasn’t a drap left of me.”
Ann Boyd is one of Harben’s strongest characters. She is an honest, perceptive, but bitter recluse who admits that she has”done more hating in my life than loving.” All three are title characters in their own books, but Abner and Pole appear in several other novels as well.
Besides Abner Daniel (1902), Pole Baker (1905), and Ann Boyd (1906), other noteworthy works include Westerfelt (1901), The Georgians (1904), Dixie Hart (1910), The New Clarion (1914), and The Triumph (1917), a Civil War (1861-65) epic that could have been Harben’s masterpiece had he refined it further. Although Harben often tackled worthwhile, interesting, and controversial themes (racism and equal rights, antiwar beliefs, isolation, religion), he allowed sentimentality to overshadow such themes and weaken their effectiveness.
Harben wrote until his death in New York City on August 7, 1919, and was buried in his beloved Dalton.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
An idyllic setting of a spire is today’s Mystery Photo
What an idyllic setting today’s Mystery Photo presents. Some of you have seen this spire, perhaps from another angle. Now figure out where it is and send your answers to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.
Last week proved to be a relatively easy Mystery Photo, as several people came up quickly with the right answer. The photo was sent in by Mollie Titus of Peachtree Corners.
The first answer proved wrong, as one reader thought the mountain in question was the Tetons in Wyoming. Wrong! First with the right answer was Ann Serrie, Lawrenceville, who said: “Another place on my bucket list to photograph, not to climb. The Matterhorn in the Alps. Thank you for this feature in the Gwinnett Forum!”
Dependable George Graf of Palmyra, Va. was next, telling us about the Matterhorn: “A little over a decade ago, my wife and I visited Zermat, Switzerland with another couple. Since Zermatt is at the foot of the Matterhorn, it has been a motorized free zone. We left my car in a town, and took a train up to our hotel in the town of Zermatt. An electric cart took us and our luggage from the station to our residence for the next few days. It was a gorgeous place with terrific views of the Matterhorn.”
Another dependable reader, Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex., wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Matterhorn, at 14,692 feet high, it is one of the best-known and highest mountain peaks in the Alps and Europe and straddles the frontier border between Switzerland and Italy, about six miles southwest of the village of Zermatt, Switzerland. ‘The mountain presents many faces to the world, and what it looks like will depend on where you view it. It is actually the butt end of a mountain ridge, but when viewed from the Swiss side (as in the mystery photo), it appears as an isolated horn-shaped peak. The Swiss slope is not nearly as steep or as difficult to climb as the grand terraced walls of the Italian slope.
“After a number of failed attempts, chiefly on the Italian side, the Matterhorn was first conquered from the Swiss side on July 14, 1865, by the British explorer Edward Whymper. Unfortunately, after a successful ascent, four of Whymper’s party fell to their deaths on their descent. Three days later it was finally scaled from the Italian side by a party of men from the village of Valtournanche, Italy, led by the Italian guide Giovanni Antonio Carrel. Today it is frequently ascended in summer, especially from Zermatt.Incidentally, the name ‘Matterhorn’ is a derivative of the German words ‘Matte’ (translation: meadow) and ‘Horn’ (translation: peak) and basically means ‘the peak in the meadows’.”
Others recognizing this mystery included Jim Savadelis, Duluth; Bob Foreman, Grayson; Lois Solomon, Dacula; Channing Haskell, Peachtree Corners; Linda Pierce, Stone Mountain; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Hoyt Tuggle, Buford; and Lou Camerio, Lilburn.
Foster Parent Info Session will be Thursday, August. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Norcross Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library, 6025 Buford Highway. Join the Gwinnett Division of Children Services to learn how to become a foster parent. Help children in your community who are victims of their circumstances. These children are in great need of compassionate, committed, and caring people. Do you have a place in your heart and in your home to provide care for these children? For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org.
Moxie Awards will be presented by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 29, at the Infinite Energy Forum. The awards recognize women who are making things happen. A panel program will precede the awards presentation. Panelists include Liz Gillespie of North American Properties; Sara Irvani of Kabashi; Hala Moddelmog of the Metro Atlanta Chamber; and Natalie Morhouse of RaceTrac. Moderator will be Carla Carraway of Precision Planning.
Author Visit: Karen Abbott is the author of Sin in the Second City, American Rose, and Liar Temptress Soldier Spy, which was named one of the best books of 2014. She has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, newyorker.com, and other publications. Her next book, The Ghosts of Eden Park, tells the story of “the Bootleg King, the women who pursued him, and the murder that shocked jazz-age America.” Join Gwinnett County Public Library members and meet Karen Abbott on Friday, August 30 at 7 p.m. at the Peachtree Corners Branch, 5570 Spalding Drive. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.
Community Health Fair for all ages will be September 7 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Best Friend Park Gym, 6225 Jimmy Carter Boulevard, in Norcross. The Fair is free and includes health screenings, dynamic exhibitors, fitness demos, wellness presentations, giveaways, blood drives, and more. It is put on in partnership with the Gwinnett Daily Post and Live Healthy Gwinnett. Call 678-277-0222 for more information.
2019 British Car Fayre, the 19th annual, will be in downtown Norcross on September 7, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Come and view, with no admission cost, over 400 distinctive British automobiles and motorcycles. Hop on and hop off a London Double Deck bus. Visit the Boot Sale. Proceeds benefit the Amanda Riley Foundation. Details: atlantabritishcarfayre.com.
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