Elliott Brack’s Perspective
BRACK: Cherokees’ removal in Trail of Tears has ties to Gwinnett
By Elliott Brack | This week a group was being led on a tour of the new Lawrenceville Performing Arts Center, which is run by the Aurora Theatre. As the group stopped at one exhibit, something was said that the Trail of Tears, which removed Cherokee Indians westward, started at the Gwinnett Courthouse.
BRACK: Summertime in the South, with baseball, colas and peanuts
| Having been born in the South, we boys growing up never even thought of how hot it got in the summer time in Georgia. It was just plain hot, and we accepted that in the days before air conditioning was standard. Suffer from heat? Not us. Sweat during the summer? Probably, but it seemed natural, and didn’t slow us down.
BRACK: It’s a sad time when those in Congress heckle a president
By Elliott Brack | Discourteous people bother me….seriously. It doesn’t matter who, when or where someone shows bad manners, it’s telling…about that person. Shocked! Yes, we were shocked at the lack of civility Tuesday night when the president of the United States was heckled by many Republicans during the State of the Union address.
BRACK: No housing should be permitted along major thoroughfares
By Elliott Brack | Have you ever considered that there ought to be a special place in hell for people who come up with the ideas of locating housing for people next to major thoroughfares? Adjacent to such roads you see many developments of apartment complexes, townhouses and condos, and even single-family subdivisions.
BRACK: Azaleas may have survived freezing temps; be patient ‘til spring
By Elliott Brack | Remember those long days of below freezing temperature in Atlanta in December? Bet it played havoc with your outdoor plants and bushes. It sure did mine. What looks particularly bad in our yard are the azalea bushes. Before the heavy freeze, their leaves were healthy-looking and green. But after the freezing hit them, their leaves first turned brown, and lately many have been shed.
Gwinnett Forum | Jan. 7, 2025
“Nothing makes us feel more connected than when we are engaged in a healthy balance of thoughtful speaking and hardcore listening.”
– Belgian-American psychotherapist and relationship expert Ester Perel (1958- ) via John Titus, Peachtree Corners.
Continuing objectives
Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. His 2025 list:
- Move statewide non-partisan judicial and school board elections to the date of the General Election.
- More creative efforts to support the arts in Gwinnett.
- Advancement and expansion of city historical societies.
- Require establishments that serve alcoholic beverages to halt sales of such products at 1 a.m., and close by 2 a.m.
- Require the Georgia Legislature to meet only once every two years.
- Eliminate single-use plastic packaging and straws in Gwinnett and require instead the use of paper products.
- Gwinnett planners to encourage condos and townhouses instead of apartments.
Interested in Gwinnett history?
Now re-printed in its third edition, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, the award-winning history of Gwinnett County, is once again available for purchase. It sold out of its first two printings. The book won the 2010 Award of Excellence in Documenting Georgia History from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. The book is available at Old Town Antiques at 93 Main Street in Lilburn.
- The history of Gwinnett is also available as an e-book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $9.95.
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