Progress 2018 by Gwinnett Daily Post Special Section

progress 2018 CELEBRATING GWINNETT’S BICENTENNIAL

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Section C • Sunday, February 25, 2018

From 1818 to 2018

Crogan Street in Lawrenceville is shown in this old, undated postcard. The east-facing card shows the multistory Hotel Pharr on the right. The hotel was partially destroyed by fire but was remodeled into a two-story building that was later home to the Button Gwinnett Hotel. It now houses Dominick’s restaurant. (Photo: Courtesy of the Gwinnett Historical Society)

Gwinnett’s story is one of growth, change By Curt Yeomans • curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com

GWINNETT COUNTY’S POPULATION GROwTH since 1820 in census years 1820 — 4,589 1830 — 13,289 1840 — 10,804 1850 — 11,257 1860 — 12,940 1870 — 12,431 1880 — 19,531 1890 — 19,899 1900 — 25,585 1910 — 28,824 1920 — 30,327 1930 — 27,853 1940 — 29,087 1950 — 32,320 1960 — 43,541 1970 — 72,349 1980 — 166,903 1990 — 352,910 2000 — 588,448 2010 — 805,321 2018* — 961,307 (*estimated)

Sources: Gwinnett Historical Society, U.S. Census Bureau, Gwinnett County

more online

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Visit gwinnettdailypost.com for more historic photos from around Gwinnett.

t would have been hard to envision Gwinnett County as a place that could be home to nearly 1 million people when it was established in 1818. The county’s population was about 4,589 people — smaller than the current populations of many of its 16 cities — a couple of years after its founding, according to 1820 census figures. But it didn’t take long for Gwinnett to become one of Georgia’s most populous counties. The 1830 U.S. census showed Gwinnett, with a population of 13,289 people, was the state’s sixth most populous county out of about 76 counties. “Early pioneers came for opportunity, primarily the chance to own land,” Gwinnett County Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash said during her recent bicentennial-inspired State of the County Address. “During the decades from 1818 to 1950, we slowly grew as a community of farms and small towns, with some trade and manufacturing.” Over the course of the 19th century, other counties grew faster than Gwinnett, eventually pushing the county out of the list of the state’s 10 most populous counties. It wasn’t Gwinnett’s time to really boom yet. In those early days, Gwinnett’s economy was also a far cry from what it is today. Instead of corporate headquarters, technology companies, manufacturing hubs and malls, there were farms. Gwinnett’s population took a hit during the 1830s, as the frontier boundary was pushed westward. During that decade, new counties began to pop up, including Forsyth County

Construction crews work on the Pleasant Hill Road bridge over Interstate 85 in this 1983 photo. (Photo: Courtesy of Gwinnett County)

ing that decision came in January 1861. Take a look at Gwinnett’s past and present The county sent three representathrough various topics: tives — J.P. Simmons, Richard D. Cities.............................................4C Winn and Thomas J.P. Hudson — to Education......................................6C the secession convention in MilledFire...............................................2C geville that year. All three men voted Government................................13C against secession, according to the Law Enforcement..........................3C Gwinnett Historical Society. Medical.........................................3C Still, Gwinnett County remained Sports.........................................14C loyal to Georgia as the conflict raged. “During the war, Gwinnett raised in 1832, in former Native American 12 companies of infantry, five troops lands west of the Chattahoochee River. (companies) of cavalry and one artilThe 1860s also brought a drop in lery battery,” the historical society’s the county’s population, but likely for website states. a different reason: The Civil War. Gwinnett was not the scene of any Gwinnett sent men to fight in the major battles during the Union Army’s Confederate Army during the Civil larger Atlanta campaign, but it did see War, but interestingly enough it didn’t several skirmishes and raids. One such support Georgia seceding from the See growth, Page 8C United States when the time for makmore inside

Progress never stops. And neither do we. This is Gwinnett Medical Center. This is now.

2C • Sunday, February 25, 2018

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progress 2018

Tragedy brings change Gwinnett’s fire department formed after loss

trevor.mcnaboe @gwinnettdailypost.com

For the past four decades, the Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services has responded to residents’ calls for help across the county. But before the inception of a countywide fire department, there were individual fire departments representing each county district. The city of Lawrenceville established its own fire department in 1912. In Mary Frazier Long’s book “About Lawrenceville,” she describes the city in the early 20th century as a place in need a fire department. “All the downtown buildings were wooden buildings and so were the houses nearby; that combined with the open fireplaces made fire a constant threat to the safety of the town and its citizens,” she wrote. Volunteer firefighters made up a majority of the local fire departments across the county until the 1940s. Laws and insurance regulations then made it necessary to have an organized department and regularly appointed firefighters. Changes were once again on the horizon in 1967. Seven lives were lost in the Norcross area due to fires. The loss prompted commissioners to propose a deal that would offer districts a countywide fire protection plan, according to the Gwinnett County Fire Department’s history. According to “About Lawrenceville,” in 1970 a countywide referendum was held to consolidate fire protection into a countywide

BY THE NUMBERS

stations operated by the Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services

1912

year Lawrenceville established its own city fire department

said in a continuance of its growth, an agreement was signed between Gwinnett County and the Hospital Calls taken by Authority. On July 1, 1986, Gwinnett County Emergency Medical Services Fire and Emergency were incorporated into the Services in 2017 fire department. Medical units were initially placed at Station 2 in Lilburn, Staprotection plan, rather than tion 7 in Duluth, Station protection plans for each 11 in Norcross, Station 12 district. The vote failed by in Snellville, Station 14 in a 4-1 margin, with the sole Buford and Station 15 in yes vote coming from the Lawrenceville. Pinckneyville District. The Gwinnett County DeCommissioners made partment of Fire and Emeranother effort to consolidate gency Services responded to fire protection by mandating 79,650 calls for assistance that if one district wanted in 2017. The department fire protection by the county, has an authorized force of individual districts could 952 employees and operlater on vote to be included ates 31 fire stations. The fire in the plan. That same year, department also includes 31 the Pinckneyville District engine companies, 11 ladder was the first area to vote in trucks and 29 Advanced Life favor of county fire protecSupport medical units. The tion and the formation of department has an annual the Gwinnett County Fire budget of $116 million and Department. is divided into four divisions The Gwinnett County Fire in the department — busiDepartment received its first ness services, community assignment on the morning risk reduction, employee of March 30, 1971. Initially, support and initiatives, and the department was under operations. contract with Norcross, had In May 2017, the depart10 firefighters, one engine ment’s business model and and a budget of $89,000. industry practices, along Over the next decade, with the job performance other cities and districts by personnel across the voted to join the county’s fire organization, helped it to protection plan. The result earn recognition as a nationwas growth of additional ally accredited fire service fire stations and personnel agency by the Commission positions. on Fire Accreditation InterThe department’s history national.

79,650

Gwinnett County celebrates 200 years of history in 2018! We were the 50th county formed in Georgia, are the 50th in landmass, and are now well on our way to becoming Georgia’s most populous county in the not-too-distant future. Through it all, Gwinnett developed a can-do attitude and tradition of working together to make our community the best place to live, work, play, and raise a family. Today, that distinct Gwinnett spirit is reflected by over 960,000 residents who call our community home. We are indeed vibrantly connected! From December 2017 to December 2018, we’re commemorating our bicentennial by paying homage to our shared history, recognizing and remembering the people who make our community great, and highlighting the vision for our promising future. Visit Gwinnett200.com to learn more, add an event to the calendar, or add your voice to our Story Vault.

www.Gwinnett200.com Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @gwinnett200! 534163-1

By Trevor McNaboe

Gwinnett200@GwinnettCounty.com 75 Langley Drive · Lawrenceville GA 30046 / 770.822.8862

A sense of purpose… a common bond People count on us. They need us for their light, heat, air conditioning, dinner, laundry and favorite TV show. They need us to keep their production lines moving, their coolers chilling, their computers operating, their schools teaching and their warehouses shipping. Serving them gives us a sense of purpose. Our team shares a common bond – keeping the power on 24/7/365. And we do it with a smile, a helping hand, a kind

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word and a deep sense of pride. It’s just who we are.

Your Power. Your Community.

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Sunday, February 25, 2018 • 3C

progress 2018

Law enforcement growth:

From 1 to nearly 1,700

By Isabel Hughes

isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com

As cars pulled to the side of the road, blue lights flashed by, sirens wailing as two police cars raced through the traffic-swarmed highway. To what emergency officers were responding, it wasn’t not known; having responded to approximately 730,000 incidents or calls for service in 2016, the Gwinnett County Police Department is almost constantly busy. From traffic stops to homicides, with a July 2016 Gwinnett County population estimate of 907,135 residents, county law enforcement personnel interact with hundreds of residents per day, the white police cars and black sheriff’s office vehicles visible during almost any 15 minute-plus drive on county roads. But it wasn’t always so. Established within months of the county’s founding in December 1818, law enforcement in Gwinnett traces back to a single home located on Dacula Road near the intersection of Hurricane Shoals Road, east of the Appalachee River. The home — that of Elisha Winn, a Virginiaborn man — served as the first county seat, housing the first courts, elections and sheriff’s sales, or public actions where mortgage lenders, banks, tax collectors and other litigants can collect money lost on property. It was also at that home where Gwinnett’s first sheriff, William Blake, received his commission from the governor of Georgia on March 25, 1819. With an 1820 population of 4,589, in its beginning years, Gwinnett sheriffs largely served as auctioneers during sheriff’s sales, the first of which was advertised in a Milledgeville newspaper in September 1819. As the county grew, the roles sheriffs played shifted, their influence on forming what is now Gwinnett County’s government growing. Still, it wasn’t until the 1920s that additional law enforcement was proposed in the county. Mostly known for cockfighting, car theft and illegal liquor sales, in 1919, the Gwinnett County Grand Jury recommended the hiring of two police officers to help combat the ever-increasing liquor trafficking. A year earlier, Georgia had ratified the 18th Amendment for national prohibition, which ultimately forbid the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” across the United States. Though county officials considered alcohol sales a growing problem in Gwinnett, it wasn’t until October 1921 that three police officers were hired.

Dr. Jack Cain, left, his nurse and volunteers at the Joan Glancy Clinic are pictured with the vehicle that allowed them to bring medical care to rural areas circa 1941. (Photo: Gwinnett County)

In 1953, the Gwinnett County Police Department — which wasn’t formally structured until that year — began a traffic safety campaign, erecting speed limit signs on roads throughout the county. (Photo: Gwinnett County Historical Society)

men who were attempting to disguise the Oldsmobile they had stolen in Atlanta. According to Maj. Alan jail capacity as of 2018 Doss, who helped write an official history of the department, the criminals monthly salary of disarmed the policemen Gwinnett police officers and cuffed them together, in 1953 though not before questioning what to do with the men. “When they put the Gwinnett sheriffs over uniform on, they automatithe last 199 years cally become dirty sons of bitches,” one of the suspects, Venson Williams, initial number of reportedly said. “It don’t sheriff’s office employees matter to me.” After deliberating for a short time, the men made a decision: kill the officers. recruits in the current police academy With 14 total shots — 12 to the officers’ heads — the story made national headlines. civilian and sworn law The last of the murderers enforcement personnel died in 2016. currently employed for In the years following Gwinnett County the officers’ murders, the department grew rapidly and in 1977 welcomed its police department current Hi-Hope Road precincts headquarters. Alongside the Gwinnett But, just as the sheriff’s County Police Department’s office grew slowly, so too growth, so too grew the did the Gwinnett County sheriff’s office, which now Police Department, taking employs 725 personnel. until 1953 before a formal The current police destructure of the department partment is even larger, with was attempted, with minan authorized 783 sworn utes from a March 2 county positions — 697 of which commission meeting detail- are filled — and 280 civiling that each officer was to ian positions, 252 of which be paid $225 per month and are filled. the county “to furnish one As Gwinnett continues car.” to grow — in 2016, the By 1960, the departAtlanta Regional Commisment had its first police sion predicted the county chief and four total officers, would overtake Fulton’s whose primary job was population by 2040 — law “traffic regulation,” though enforcement continues to newspapers from the time play an essential role in the detailed frequent seizures of county. moonshine. With nearly 1,700 people Less than five years employed in various roles later, in April 1964, tragedy across the two agencies, the struck the department when blue lights will continue three officers were found to flash and peace officers handcuffed and murdered will continue to respond to in a wooded area in the emergencies. southwestern portion of the And, like every day for county. the last 200 years, the resiUnknowingly, when dents, and Gwinnett’s law responding to a call about enforcement, will continue “suspicious activity,” the of- to write the county’s rich ficers had interrupted three history.

BY THE NUMBERS

2,765 $225 44 1

1,674 5

It wasn’t until 1953 that a formal structure of the county’s police department was attempted. At the March 2 county commission meeting, minutes detail that each officer was to be paid $225 per month and the county “to furnish one car.” This is the car. (Photo: Gwinnett County)

How a boy’s death kick-started a hospital By Isabel Hughes

Joan Glancy Memorial hospitals, the hospital authority’s three-hospital system plan was complete. When 6-year-old Olin As each facility quickly Burnett fell ill around reached and exceeded 1941: The Joan Glancy Christmastime 1940, there capacity, coupled with the Memorial Clinic is was little his family could steady stream of new resifounded in Duluth dents into Gwinnett County, do except tend to the boy. 1944: The Joan Glancy the authority recognized the Burnett’s father, Henry Memorial Clinic opens in need for a new, centralized Burnett, worked as a tractor Duluth hospital. mechanic and cow milker 1948: Hutchins Memorial Hospital opens in By 1969, authority at Irvindale Farms Dairy Buford members and county ofjust outside of Duluth, and 1957: The Hospital ficials were pushing for the with at least a half a dozen Authority of Gwinnett new hospital, though due to children to take care of, County is established President Richard Nixon’s neither Henry nor his wife, 1959: Button Gwinnett veto of the Medical ConAlice, could bring their son Hospital is constructed struction and Modernization to a doctor. and opens with 35 beds Act in 1970 — the veto After several days of the 1965: The Joan Glancy cut off federal funding for younger Burnett feeling Memorial Hospital joins the hospital’s construction “puny,” the book “Gwinthe Gwinnett Hospital System — the facility did not open nett: A little above Atlanta” 1966: Buford General until 1984, several years details, on Christmas Eve, Hospital’s 40-bed facility after Snellville’s Eastside Dick Hull, manager of the is completed Medical Center opened. dairy farm and Henry Bur1966: Button Gwinnett A nine floor, 190-bed nett’s boss, heard a knock Hospital expands to 74 facility with general, medion his door. beds cal, surgical and diagnosOpening the door, Hull 1966: Hutchins Memotic services and 24-hour found Henry Burnett at his rial shuts its doors emergency room coverage, feet, who brought devastat1969: Hospital Authority its name is one that many ing news: Olin had taken a members and county officials are pushing for a recognize today: Gwinnett turn for the worse and died new, centralized hospital Medical Center. of kidney failure. 1970: President Richard More than 30 years later, Hull, who was married Nixon vetos the Medical the hospital has expanded to the daughter of General Construction and Modseveral times to several and Mrs. A.R. Glancy, Nora, ernization Act in 1970, different Gwinnett cities called a town meeting. which cuts off federal and now offers an array of While accounts in several funding for the central services, including neonatal history books vary in what hospital’s construction intensive care, open-heart exactly was said, Hull asked Early 1980s: Eastside surgery, robotic procedures the townspeople, who were Medical Center opens 1984: Gwinnett Medical and many others. mostly cotton farmers, Center opens as a nine The Women’s Pavilion, “Why can’t we have a clinic floor, 190-bed facility which opened in 1991 as an in Duluth?” 1991: GMC’s Women’s innovative facility geared Despite still reeling from Pavilion opens specifically at a variety of the money-strapped years 2012: GMC’s Women’s women’s services, averages of the Great Depression, the Pavilion welcomes its about 5,000 births a year. In townspeople raised $450 100,000th child 2012, it celebrated the birth to establish a clinic, which 2017: The Georgia of the 100,000th child there. touched Nora, who wrote Office of the Attorney “Here in Gwinnett, we a letter to her parents about General approves a merger between Gwinnow have access to thouthe campaign. nett Medical System and sands of doctors and other The Glancys, who lived Northside Hospital medical professionals who in the metro Detroit area practice in all specialties,” — Gen. Glancy had been Gwinnett Board of Coma vice president of General missioners Chairwoman Motors’ Pontiac, Mich., beds. Charlotte Nash told the division — knew the pain of With a population of Daily Post in 2014. “This is losing a child. about 30,000 at the time, very different from the situSeventeen years earlier, 44 hospital beds wasn’t their youngest, Joan, had enough, and county leaders ation prior to the opening of the facility in 1984. At died of pneumonia at age realized the need for more. 4, and Nora’s letter touched In 1957, they established the that time, we had a limited their hearts. Hospital Authority of Gwin- number of doctors in GwinSoon, a check for $500 nett County, an organization nett and most of them used was in the mail, along with that would oversee a county hospitals outside the county. Having an up-to-date a promise that every year hospital system. hospital was the first step in on Joan’s birthday, they’d The system, the authormoving us to the medical send another check in her ity planned, would consist community we now take for memory. of three hospitals of 70 to Within months, the Joan 75 beds each and one large, granted.” With the county continuGlancy Memorial Clinic central hospital with 200 ing to grow — the U.S. was founded in a threebeds. Census Bureau’s 2016 room frame cottage on DuThe authority’s first Gwinnett County population luth’s school grounds, and facility, Button Gwinnett estimate surpassed 900,000 from Day 1, the clinic was Hospital, was constructed inundated with patients. under a grant by the federal — the hospital systems, too, will continue to expand, and Realizing the need for a Hill-Burton Act and began with the November approval larger facility, Gen. Glancy operations in 1959 with 35 offered a deal to the people beds, though was expanded of Northside Hospital and Gwinnett Medical System’s of Duluth: provide land and to 74 beds in 1966. a well, and he would build In the meantime, in 1965, merger by the state’s Office of the Attorney General, that them a hospital. the Joan Glancy Memorial expansion may be available Glancy kept his word, Hospital joined the Gwinas soon as later this year. and in July 1944, the Joan nett Hospital System, and One thing, however, is Glancy Memorial Hospital by 1966, Buford General sure: Hospitals in Gwinnett opened as the first in Gwin- Hospital’s 40-bed facility are still adding services and nett with 27 beds. was completed. will always still serve the Several years later in That same year, after 18 community. 1948, Hutchins Memorial years of service, Hutchins Various history books and Hospital opened in Buford, Memorial shut its doors, documents were consulted though the facility was though with Button Gwinin writing this story. smaller, holding only 17 nett, Buford General and

isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com

TIMELINE of GWINNETT’S MEDICAL HISTORY

4C • Sunday, February 25, 2018

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progress 2018

This undated postcard shows a “street scene” in Norcross’ historic downtown district. While cars pass through the area now, this image shows people using horse and wagons to get around at the time. (Photo: Courtesy of the Gwinnett Historical Society)

Establishment of county’s 16 cities spans across nearly two centuries

From Lawrenceville to Peachtree Corners

By Curt Yeomans

AT A GLANCE

curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com

It didn’t take long after Gwinnett County’s establishment for cities to begin showing up. The first of these cities, Lawrenceville, was officially established three years to the day after the county was established, taking its name from War of 1812 Naval hero Capt. James Lawrence of “Don’t give up the ship” fame. In 2016, Lawrenceville historian Mary Frazier Long told the Daily Post that Lawrenceville’s founders wanted to name the city after someone prominent. With the War of 1812 fresh on their minds, and Lawrence’s exploits in the war well known, they settled on naming the city for him. “People were still kind of enthused on that war,” Long said in 2016. “They’d about run out of Revolutionary War people to name things after. … It was just the thing to do back then.” Lawrenceville is considered the oldest city in metro Atlanta, although it just barely beats out another city named for a naval hero, Decatur, for that honor. The idea behind placing the county’s seat in the middle of the county came down to one factor: It was centrally located and therefore easy for anyone in the county to get there, do their business and get home in one day. Keep in mind this was the early 19th century and there were no cars at that time. The only ways to get somewhere were by walking, riding a horse or riding in a horse-drawn buggy. It wasn’t long after Lawrenceville was founded — 17 years actually — before the community that would eventually become the city of Suwanee began with the establishment of a post office near the site of an old Native American village with a similar name. Although the post office was created in 1838, the city wouldn’t be officially incorporated until 111 years later. Still, Suwanee showed up as a town on U.S. census records as early as the 1890 census — although that population report also listed a population from 1880. The growth of cities in Gwinnett really didn’t begin taking off until the 1870s, when the Atlanta and Richmond Air Line Railway built a north-south running railroad line in the western part of the county. In the span of six years in that decade, the cities of Norcross, Buford and Duluth were incorporated along the railroad. Norcross was named for Atlanta Mayor Jonathan Norcross, a friend of town founder John Thrasher, while Buford took its name from Atlanta and Richmond Air Line Railway Algemon Sidney Buford. Duluth, which was originally known as Howell’s Cross Roads before it was incorporated, took inspiration for its name from the town of Duluth, Minn., when the rail line was built. Communities within Gwinnett first begin to appear in U.S. census records on their own in 1870. That was the same year that Norcross was incorporated, but it doesn’t appear as a city in the census records. What does show up alongside Lawrenceville in the 1870 census, however, are some familiar communities including Harbins, Pinckneyville, Hog Mountain — and Sugar Hill, which wouldn’t become a city in its own right until nearly 70 years later. Five years after the Civil War ended, the Sugar Hill area — which included what would become Buford a few years later — was home to 874 residents. By comparison, the Harbins area, including

Top, cars drive past construction crews working on the widening of Scenic Highway in this photo from the mid-1990s. Traffic has continued to build on the highway to the point that the county now plans to widen it again to six lanes. (Photo: Courtesy of Gwinnett County) Left, this copy of an 1847 map shows Gwinnett County, as well as its neighboring counties. The copy is held by the Gwinnett Historical Society at its office in Lawrenceville. (File Photo)

the modern day Dacula area, was home to 1,050 people. The Pinckneyville area was home to 1,120 people and another 851 people lived in the Rockbridge area. Other communities in Gwinnett listed in the 1870 census include Ben Smith, Goodwin’s, Berkshire, Cate’s, Martin’s and Cain’s. Over the last two decades of the 19th century, the cities of Loganville and Auburn also came into existence. Loganville, which straddles the Gwinnett-Walton County line, was incorporated in 1887, and Auburn came along five years later. The city of Auburn’s origins go back nearly 70 years before its 1892 incorporation, with the establishment of the Loughridge Post Office in about 1825 (its name changed to Auburn Post Office in 1837), according to the city’s website. Gwinnett also welcomed another new city in 1884: Jug Tavern, which is now known as Winder. Yes, that’s right. Winder was once part of Gwinnett County. Although the city is now located inside Barrow County, that county wasn’t created from parts of Gwinnett, Jackson and Walton counties until 1914. The first decade of the 20th century brought the founding of Grayson in 1901 and Dacula in 1905. Dacula’s name was created by its postmaster in 1893 through a mash up of the names Decatur and Atlanta, according to the Gwinnett Historical Society. Grayson’s incorporation didn’t come without a couple of hiccups. Originally known as Trip as early as 1881, the city wanted a new name when it was incorporated, so Berkeley was chosen. But it turned out that name was already taken by another city in Georgia. Graymont was tried, too, but a post office with that name already existed so the U.S. Postal Service nixed that idea. Eventually, the name Grayson was chosen after its first mayor, John E. Jacobs,

received a letter from his wife who was visiting family in a county in Texas with that name. The name intrigued Jacobs, according to the city’s website, and it didn’t conflict with other Georgia towns or post offices, so it became the town’s name in 1902. Two other Gwinnett cities established in the early 20th century had their own false starts in their early years. Lilburn was first incorporated in 1910, although the city is not mentioned in the 1920 census. As the economy crashed in the Great Depression, the city’s government went defunct. It was eventually reincorporated in 1955 and has existed since then. Meanwhile, Snellville had its own starts and stops early in its existence. The town was incorporated in 1923 but its initial government didn’t last long. In the late 1920s, the government went dormant and stayed that way through the Great Depression before it was resurrected around 1940, only to go defunct again during World War II. The city’s government eventually got restarted again in 1947 and has operated continuously since then. But the Great Depression didn’t just see a pair of Gwinnett cities go dormant. Two other cities in northern Gwinnett were born during that time period. Rest Haven got its start on the Gwinnett-Hall county line in 1938. A year later, the city of Sugar Hill was officially incorporated. Although the two cities were officially created a year apart, their paths since then have been very different. While Sugar Hill has grown and is now in the process of developing a downtown district centered around its City Hall, Rest Haven’s leaders have spent much of the 21st century’s early years trying to find ways to end the city’s existence. Rest Haven has allowed Buford to annex pieces of the town gradually, and

Lawrenceville Incorporated: Dec. 15, 1821 Population in 1860: 1,591 Estimated 2016 Population: 30,127 Norcross Incorporated: 1870 Population in 1880: 500 Estimated 2016 Population: 16,293 Buford Incorporated: Aug. 24, 1872 Population in 1880: 896 Estimated 2016 Population: 13,927 Duluth Incorporated: 1876 Population in 1880: 242 Estimated 2016 Population: 28,681 Loganville Incorporated: 1887 Population in 1890: 338 Estimated 2016 Population: 11,072 Auburn Incorporated: 1892 Population in 1900: 161 Estimated 2016 Population: 7,291 Grayson Incorporated: Dec. 16, 1901 Population in 1910: 278 Estimated 2016 Population: 3,008 Dacula Incorporated: 1905 Population in 1910: 169 Estimated 2016 Population: 5,053 Lilburn Incorporated: 1910, 1955 (original government went defunct during Great Depression, but the city was reincorporated in 1955) Population in 1960: 753 Estimated 2016 Population: 12,481 Braselton Incorporated: 1916 Population in 1920: 148 Estimated 2016 Population: 8,409 Snellville Incorporated: 1923 Population in 1930: 105 Estimated 2016 Population: 19,395 Rest Haven Incorporated: 1938 Population in 1940: 91 Estimated 2016 Population: 88 Sugar Hill Incorporated: 1939 Population in 1940: 599 Estimated 2016 Population: 20,889 Suwanee Incorporated: 1949 (Listed as a town in U.S. census records dating as far back as the 1890 census, but that census report included an 1880 population number as well) Population in 1880: 215 Estimated 2016 Population: 18,001 Berkeley Lake Incorporated: March 6, 1956 Population in 1960: 94 Estimated 2016 Population: 1,924 Peachtree Corners Incorporated: July 1, 2012 Estimated 2013 Population: 38,446 Estimated 2016 Population: 41,268 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Gwinnett Historical Society, Buford History Museum and cities of Auburn, Berkeley Lake, Braselton, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Snellville, Sugar Hill and Suwanee

in 2015, legislation was passed to transfer half of what was left of the city to its larger neighbor. Similar legislation that would have transferred the remaining half of the city over to Buford stalled in the General Assembly in 2016. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 population estimates 88 people live in Rest Haven and 20,889 people in Sugar Hill. A decade after Sugar Hill’s incorporation, Suwanee was officially incorporated as well. Then Berkeley Lake was incorporated in 1956, three years after the establishment of a civic association for the community. It is named for the nearby lake that was created in 1948 — although that body of water is named Lake Berkeley. The most recent city to come into existence in the county was Peachtree Corners. Voters approved the city’s creation in 2011 as part of a wave of new cities that have formed in the metro Atlanta area, and its government officially formed in 2012. Peachtree Corners celebrated its fiveyear anniversary last year.

Sunday, February 25, 2018 • 5C

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THERE’S STRENGTH IN

NUMBERS

176

BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENTS In 2017, the Gwinnett Chamber held 176 business networking events with more than 10,000 attendees. The numbers speak for themselves. When it comes to growing your business, we can make a STRONG case that membership in the Gwinnett Chamber should be your NUMBER ONE choice.

JOIN US TODAY! 529339-1

Call 770.232.3000 or visit GwinnettChamber.org

6C • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2018

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GCPS: From rural to state’s largest system BY TREVOR MCNABOE trevor.mcnaboe @gwinnettdailypost.com

In just under 200 years, schools in Gwinnett County have blossomed from a cluster of small community schools and academies educating hundreds of students, to 139 schools offering enrichment to more than 180,000 children. Gwinnett County Public Schools has had a meteoric rise from having “nearly or quite the highest adult illiteracy in the state of Georgia” according the U.S. census in 1920 from the book “Gwinnett County GA Schools 1923” to the state’s largest public school system. It has gone from a collection of small schoolhouses ranging in value of $50 to $20,000 to a multibillion dollar organization finishing construction on the Paul Duke STEM High School, costing more than $25 million. Gwinnett’s transformation from a rural area of farmland outside of Atlanta to home of one of the United States’ largest school districts has been a process. Education in Gwinnett County officially began in 1821 with an act passed allowing trustees to build a county academy. Due to the lack of funds, the academy was not opened until five years later in 1826 and given the name Lawrenceville Academy in honor of Captain James Lawrence, a U.S. naval officer and the namesake of the county seat. Academies such as the Washington Academy in

is done, the teachers will know where to find their children, the children will know to which school they Total schools in the must go, and the comdistrict missioner and board of education will be able to ascertain the reasons for non-attendance in any school clusters district in the county.” During the 1920s, the Gwinnett County Board of Board of Education Education adopted a stance districts of having better schools rather than just having more schools. As a result, consolidation of schools FY18 budget for began the following decade Gwinnett County — with 71 schools being Public Schools reduced to under 30 under superintendent R.S. Simonton in 1933. Students in Gwinnett County riding a Model T school bus, circa 1925. (Photo: Courtesy teachers in first county During consolidation, of Gwinnett County Government) education report in 1871 Norcross, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson and Snellville were part of the county monthly pay for male school system, while Lawteacher in 1871 renceville and Buford were accredited, independent school systems. The genesis of presentstarting salary for new day Gwinnett County teacher in 2017-18 Public Schools started in the late 1940s with the Lawrenceville school 1827, the Gwinnett Manual system joining the county Labor Institute in 1835, the school system. The issuing Female Seminary in 1837 of a bond in 1955 resulted and Center Academy in in the funding for construc1839 were the first education of South Gwinnett tional instiututions to open High School in Snellville, in Gwinnett. Central Gwinnett High By the 1850 census, School in LawrencevGwinnett County had ille, West Gwinnett High grown to a total of 31 one- This postcard shows an early incarnation of the old Lawrenceville High School that School (presently, Norcross High School) and North teacher schools educatonce stood on a hill on Perry Street overlooking the Lawrenceville Square. (Photo: Gwinnett High School in ing approximately 1,186 Courtesy of the Gwinnett Historical Society) Suwanee. students. In a diary kept by In addition, the bond isSuwanee resident Lucretia education did not undergo groundwork for some sioner James A. Bagwell Douglas in 1852, she dereformation until after the modern policies, such as said changes in the district sue provided funds for the building of Hooper-Renscribes teaching “an infant Civil War, when in 1870 changing teacher pay from were needed. wick School in Lawrencevschool in one room of her the Georgia General Asa system based on daily “The board of educaille and Hull Elementary family’s home.” Pupils sembly provided funds for attendance to a salary scale, tion decided to lay off the came from neighboring a statewide public school and dividing the county county into school districts, School in Duluth, both farms, and one student even system. into local school districts. and it is now high time that all-black schools. One year later, a policy boarded with the Douglas The end of the 19th According to GCPS his- the school territories should family. century and the turn of tory records, then-Gwinnett be definitely known,” said See SCHOOLS, Page 7C Gwinnett County the 20th century laid the County school commisBagwell. “When this work

BY THE NUMBERS

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progress 2018

stripers season,

Schools

referendums for capital building projects. However, on how the board of educa- according to the district, tion was selected with one the bonds were a reactive member being from one measure moreso than a of the five districts in the proactive one. county was adopted. The Change came in 1996 policy included the stipula- with the ascension of J. tion that the superintendent Alvin Wilbanks to the role would be appointed by the of superintendent, a change board. in the county’s educational The late 1960s saw standards and state legislaanother round of consolidation allowing for Gwinnett tion, this time in the form County voters to approve a of integration of both local sales tax that would white and black students benefit the education in Gwinnett County. Hull system called E-SPLOST. Elementary and HooperThe five-year penny sales Renwick School were shut tax allowed for the school down, with a majority of system to fund additional the students of the former buildings for classrooms, going to the newly crepay down existing debt ated B.B. Harris Elemenand provide additional tary School while most of technological instruction to Hooper-Renwick students students. attended Central Gwinnett Since the E-SPLOST High School. referendum first appeared The school system began on a ballot in 1997, it has to see a rapid increase in its been passed four additional student population durtimes, most recently in ing the 1980s and 1990s, 2015. and the county as a whole The change in educationwas named one of the five al standards more than two fastest growing counties in decades ago was designed the country. With the influx to challenge students with a of students coming into more rigorous and comthe school system, classprehensive new curriculum room space became a huge known as the Academic problem. Knowledge and Skills curGCPS issued bond riculum. The change in cur-

riculum not only has given Gwinnett notoriety for being the 12th largest school district in the country, but also for its achievement, winning the Broad Prize for Urban Education, given to the top urban education systems in the country, in 2010 and 2014, and being named a finalist in 2009, 2010 and 2014. Looking toward the future, Gwinnett County has begun to shift its focus toward STEM/STEAM programs and specialized schools. Paul Duke STEM High School, in the Norcross cluster, will open this fall, while the Meadowcreek cluster will be opening a school that will be focused on health sciences. In its 147 years as an organized school system, Gwinnett County Public Schools has grown by 81 times its initial population of 2,200 students. While numbers are a telling factor, they don’t tell the whole story of hundreds of thousands of educators that have molded students or the millions of taxpayers that have made a small farming community into a thriving academic hub.

catch IT

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A Norcross Elementary School class in 1923. (Photo: Courtesy of the Gwinnett Historical Society)

•From Page 6C

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2018 • 7C

LAWRENCEVILLE

MARCH 17TH - 2-9PM LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

IRISH FOOD, BREW GAMES & MORE

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HISTORIC DOWNTOWN SQUARE

8C • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2018

gwinnettdailypost.com

progress 2018 raid occurred in July 1864 in Lawrenceville when Union forces showed up to take all of the horses and mules in the area. Although it’s called Garrard’s Raid, it was actually carried out by Col. Robert Minty under Garrard’s orders. George D.N. Coletti wrote in his book, “Stone Mountain: The Granite Sentinel,” that Minty led troops on the raid and encountered Confederate soldiers as they approached Lawrenceville, near Tilford McConnell’s farm, and captured them after a brief skirmish. Coletti also wrote that since a cotton mill in the city had recently burned down, there was little for Minty to take. Minty’s own description of July 23, 1864, in a report that is now posted on www.7thpennsylvania cavalry.com, offers an unremarkable description of what happened in the Lawrenceville area. “July 23, marched to Lawrenceville,” was all he wrote about it. After the war, the county experienced its first major population boom as railroads were built in the county in the 1870s, when the county’s population increased by more than 50 percent in 10 years. What would become Gwinnett County Public Schools also traces its roots back to 1871. After the railroad’s initial impact in the the 1870s, however, the county grew steadily but slowly over the following decades. By 1920, U.S. census records show the county’s population ballooned to 30,327 residents. That is more than twice the 12,431 people who lived in the county in 1870, but only a little over 10,000 people

Growth

more than the 1880 population of 19,531. The county’s biggest population and economic boom period, which brought it to where it is today, is a more recent event. Even in 1950, Gwinnett was still a small community of about 32,320 residents, according to that year’s census. Then the changes started coming. The 1950s saw the creation of Lake Lanier, and Interstate 85 followed in the early 1960s. Census records show that over the course of the 1950s, Gwinnett’s population increased by 11,221, the largest 10-year increase in the county’s population up to that point. During the 1960s, the population grew by 28,808 people. By 1970, Gwinnett was home to 72,349 people. The expansion of what is now known as HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport south of Atlanta came along in the 1970s, and Nash said that was another factor that contributed to the county’s growth. “The impact of these decisions is a reminder that Gwinnett is tied to our region and to the rest of Georgia and beyond,” she said. During the 1970s, the population increased by 94,554 people, climbing to a total of 166,903 residents in 1980. A countywide water network, an expansion of the county’s road network, development of the school system and modernization of public safety services happened during that time period. “Those initial investments transformed Gwinnett from an outlying slice of rural landscape into a desirable suburban bedroom commu-

nity,” Nash said. “Residential development exploded, and, as businesses took note, commercial growth began to parallel our residential growth.” Over the course of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, the number of new residents who moved to the county each decade numbered in the hundreds of thousands. During the 1980s, the population increased by 186,007 people. In the 1990s, the amount of growth totaled 235,538 people. The population grew by another 216,873 people between 2000 and 2010. “Success bred success,” Nash said. “Our residential and commercial boom continued unabated during the 1990s and into the 2000s. Gwinnett began to mature, becoming more urbanized and more diverse.” Gwinnett County officials estimate the county currently has more than 960,000 residents. “We’re not a bedroom community anymore,” Nash said. “We’re an employment center and a destination. Together, county government, our schools, Chamber of Commerce, cities, CIDs and so many other Gwinnett institutions have created a strong brand of excellence that other communities seek to copy.” In the coming decade, Gwinnett’s population is expected to cross the 1 million people mark, and by 2040, the county is expected to have about 1.5 million people, projected to be the most populous county in Georgia. “Two hundred years after our founding, we remain a community of pioneers, with many of our residents having come from across the U.S. and from around the globe, seeking opportunity and prosperity,” Nash said.

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•From Page 1C

The City by the River

Just a century ago…

The land was once a farming settlement with a tavern, an inn, a church and a post office on a dusty stagecoach stop to Atlanta – today the area, once known as Pinckneyville, is a thriving city of over 40,000.

This fall the city’s 21-acre town center featuring restaurants, retail shops, a Cinebistro, and Town Green will be complete. We invite you to shop, dine and enjoy our city by the river and its many amenities.

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Incorporated in July 2012, Peachtree Corners is Gwinnett County’s newest – and largest – city. Technology-related businesses drive the city’s economic growth today, thanks to the dreams of businessman Paul Duke, who in the 1960s pitched the idea of creating Technology Park.

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your community: city by city

Sunday, February 25, 2018 • 9C

City by City is a weekly look at the happenings in the places you call home more from buford

AUBURN Public library hosts Maker Monday event The Auburn Public Library will host its monthly Maker Monday session from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday. Participants will use science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics — or STEAM — concepts to make creations based on a fandom, such as Harry Potter or Star Wars. The program is for children ages 7 to 12 with a parent, guardian, or other caregiver. The Auburn Public Library is located at 24 5th St. in Auburn. For more information, call 770-513-2925. BARROW COUNTY Thinking Money exhibit teaches financial literacy The Winder Public Library is currently hosting Thinking Money, a museum-quality exhibition that is traveling to 50 U.S. public libraries. Thinking Money strives to teach tweens, teens and their parents, caregivers and educators about financial literacy topics — like saving, spending and avoiding fraud — in a way that is not only understandable, but fun, according to the American Library Association website. Through an adventure story, interactive iPad content and other hands-on activities, the exhibition explores personal finance concepts such as wants vs. needs, earning and paying interest, saving for emergencies and the future, avoiding financial fraud and money behaviors, the website states. The exhibit is for all ages. Thinking Money was developed by the American Library Association Public Programs Office in collaboration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation. The Winder library, located at 189 Bellview St., is the only host site in Georgia. For more information, visit apply.ala.org/thinkingmoney. BERKELEY LAKE Easter Egg hunt planned for kids 4 and under The Pinckneyville Park Community Recreation Center is planning an egg-citing Easter egg hunt, crafts, games and a visit from the Easter Bunny for children aged 4 and under. The Easter Pails and Bunny Tails Jr. Egg Hunt will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. March 24 at the Recreation Center, located at 4650 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Berkeley Lake. There is a $6 fee for Gwinnett residents and a $12 fee for participants who live outside of the county. Participants must register by March 20. Online registration is available at www.gwinnettparks.com with code PVP11620. For more information, call 678-277-0920. BRASELTON STEMI Summit features cardiac continuing education The Northeast Georgia Health System is hosting the 10th annual Northeast Georgia STEMI Summit from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 23 at Chateau Elan Winery and Resort, 100 Rue Charlemagne Drive in Braselton. The event provides continuing education units for emergency medical services workers, registered radiologic technologists, registered cardiovascular invasive specialists and nurses and continuing medical education for physicians. Keynote speakers include Allison Dupont, the director of the regional out of hospital cardiac arrest and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation programs; J. Jeffrey Marshall, who serves serves on the Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease for the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Georgia State Board of Medicine; Brenda Hott, the medical director of the heart failure programs at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center and Northside Hospital — Forsyth; Bryan McNally, the executive director of Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES); and Peter Kudenchuk, the principal investigator at the University of Washington for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium. Registration is $25 for general attendees. Lunch is

Marvelous marriages

seat by calling 678-421-2049. Concert attendees can bring their own food and beverage to the event. First Friday Concerts take place at the Norcross Community Center, 10 College St., on the first Friday of the month from January to April and October to December. For more information, visit aplacetoimagine.com/events/ concerts.

Lanier Islands recently won wedding-planning website The Knot’s 2018 ‘Best of Weddings’ award. (Special Photo)

ibly honored by this distinction from The Knot,” said Stephanie Orr, vice president of A local lakeside resort sales and marketing has been recognized at Lanier Islands. “As as a top destination for the go-to source for so weddings, recently win- many young brides and ning wedding planning grooms, I think it’s safe website The Knot’s 2018 to say ‘We’ve arrived’ Best of Weddings award. by being named among Lanier Islands, a BuThe Knot’s Best of Wedford-area resort located dings. It’s not only an on the shores of Lake accolade we treasure, it’s Lanier, was recently also one we’ve worked named the winner for its extremely hard to attain more than 20 indoor and over the course of the outdoor event venues, a last decade.” “variety of activities to In 2018, only 3 perentertain and lodgings to cent of the approximateaccommodate guests,” ly 300,000 local wedding and “a talented wedding professionals listed on team and culinary staff to The Knot’s website had bring the big day to life.” received the Best of “We are incredWeddings award, which

By Isabel Hughes

isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com

included. For more information, visit www.nghs.com/form/stemi, email STEMI.systems@nghs. com or call 770-219-5416. BUFORD Lanier Community Garden now accepting applications The Lanier Community Garden is now accepting applications for plots in time for the spring growing season. The garden, located on the property of the Lanier Water Filter Plant at 2547 Buford Dam Road in Buford, offers 79 garden plots for residents to grow fruit, herbs, vegetables and flowers for their families, local food banks and other charitable organizations. Plots come in two sizes; larger plots have an annual fee of $45, and small plots cost $22.50 per year. Plots are available on a firstcome, first-served basis. For a membership application, visit www.laniercommunitygarden.org. DACULA Library offering class on new online catalog The Dacula branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library will teach patrons how to use its BiblioCommons catalog to find books and interact with the online community at a workshop in March. The workshop, titled “Navigating Our New Catalog,” will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. March 7. BiblioCommons is a Toronto-based software company that provides features that help patrons search, explore, borrow and do more in the online library, according to the Gwinnett County Public Library website. Features include improved search functionality and the ability to create a user name, curate reading lists and rate, review and tag materials.

The Dacula library is located at 265 Dacula Road. For more information, visit www. gwinnettpl.org. DULUTH Rotary Club hosts Coffee with a Cop The Rotary Club of Duluth will host Coffee with a Cop, an initiative of the Gwinnett County Police Department, from 9 to 11 a.m. March 23 at the 1818 Club, located on the third floor of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce building at 6500 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. The mission of Coffee with a Cop is “to break down barriers between police officers and the residents they serve by removing agendas and allowing opportunities to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the officers in your community,” according to a news release. The theme of “building relationships, one cup at a time” conveys the intention to foster meaningful conversations that are possible when individuals are genuinely interested in what one another have to say. The public is invited to attend, but space is limited. Those planning to attend should reserve their spot by calling 678-442-6504 or emailing David.D.Wood@gwinnettcounty.com. GRAYSON SAT Essay Prep offered at library The Grayson branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library will offer an SAT Essay Prep session from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday. The program will provide information about the requirements and expectations for the SAT Essay, which requires writers to analyze a text. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to examine samples of scored essays.

Lanier Islands resort makes 2018 Best of Weddings list

PEACHTREE CORNERS Horizon Toastmasters hosts open house at YMCA The Horizon Toastmasters Club will have an open house from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. March 6 at the Robert Fowler YMCA, 5600 W. Jones Bridge Road in Peachtree Corners. Attendees can network and learn new ways to improve their communication and leadership skills. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m., and the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. The Horizon Toastmasters meet at 7 p.m. each Tuesday in the YMCA’s Senior Center Activities Room. Toastmasters is an international organization that provides an opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills in a structured, friendly, and supportive environment. For more information, visit www.horizonclub.toastmastersclubs.org.

SNELLVILLE Master Gardeners award grant to Snellville garden For the third consecutive year, the Community Garden at Snellville has been awarded a grant from the Gwinnett supports local wedding support team for our County Master Gardeners vendors. brides and grooms, Association. The $500 grant will help To determine the win- honed our culinary support the garden’s greenners, The Knot looked menus to perfection and house operations with the at nearly 3.6 million created a number of purchase of supplies, includreviews across the variincredible destination ing pots, potting soil, organic ous vendor categories wedding packages for fertilizer, rooting hormone and — venues, musicians, those couples who want vegetable and flower seeds, florists, photographers, to extend their event out according to a news release. caterers and more. over several days. Wed“We will now be able The winners represent dings are a very happy to grow more flowers and the best of the best wed- business to be in, and we vegetables for the community, making a better environment ding professionals that are truly privileged to be for all of us,” said master a bride or groom would a part of so many special gardener Wes Nettleton, who want to consider bookbeginnings.” was instrumental in applying ing for their own unique In addition to the most for the grant. wedding. recent award, Lanier The garden’s greenhouse “We’ve crafted new Islands was recently is maintained by a team of venues and re-imagined named Best Rehearsal volunteers. existing ones to give our Dinner Site by Best of The team plans to have couples the very best Atlanta Bridal Awards. plants available for sale at this backdrop for their big For more information year’s Snellville Days, May 5 day,” Orr said. “Lanier to 6 at T.W. Briscoe Park. about weddings at the In addition to its primary Islands Weddings has resort, visit lanierislands. purpose of providing space also built an amazing com/weddings. for families to grow flowers and food for their own The Grayson library is loEnglish, Spanish, Urdu, Hindi consumption and to donate to cated at 700 Grayson Parkway. and Mandarin. Assistance will local charities, the CommuFor more information, visit be provided to attendees on a nity Garden at Snellville also www.gwinnettpl.org. first come, first served basis. adds to Snellville’s sense of The Lilburn branch is community, the news release located at 4817 Church St. in LAWRENCEVILLE states. The garden is located Lilburn, in the same building as in T. W. Briscoe Park on the Roundabout to be corner of Marigold Road and installed at Sardis Church, Lilburn City Hall. For more information and a Sawyer Parkway. Currently Doc Hughes list of required documents to the garden includes 48 raised The intersection of Sardis bring, visit gwinnettpl.org/N400 beds, a pavilion, beehives, a Church and Doc Hughes or email events@gwinnettpl. greenhouse, tool shed and a roads will be transformed into org. large perennial garden. a roundabout. For more information on the Peach State Construction LOGANVILLE garden visit www.snellvilleCo. LLC was the lowest of 11 communitygarden.com. Home buyer workshop bidders at $518,453.25, acoffered by DHI Mortgage cording to a news release. The SUGAR HILL DHI Mortgage will present a cost includes curb and gutter, Bilingual cop to read workshop for those interested lighting and sidewalks. in buying a home from 11 at library story time Funding will come from the a.m. to 2 p.m. March 10 at the 2014 special purpose local The Buford-Sugar Hill Reserve at Logan Point, 213 option sales tax, or SPLOST, branch of the Gwinnett County Logan View Drive in Loganville. Public Library will host a bilinprogram, the news release “Overcome Your Fears of states. The contract was apgual story time with a police proved by the Gwinnett County Buying a Home” will present officer at 11 a.m. March 10. information about the benefits Board of Commissioners. The Buford-Sugar Hill li“I’m optimistic about the po- of pre-qualifying and getting brary is located at 2100 Buford a realistic price range before tential to improve traffic safety Highway in Buford. shopping for a new home, with this intersection design,” The police officer will read knowing which loan programs stories in English and SpanDistrict 4 Commissioner John are available, and the DHI Heard said in the news reish. The program is intended lease. “Innovative solutions like Mortgage Buyers Club, a for children ages 3 and up service that teaches you how this roundabout make Gwinand their parent, guardian or to overcome credit challenges accompanying adult. nett County the best place to and prepare for successful do business in the nation.” For more information, visit home ownership. For more information on www.gwinnettpl.org. The event is free. Those Gwinnett County Transportainterested in attending should tion projects or to learn more SUWANEE register no later than Saturday about SPLOST, visit www. Run for the Rescues by contacting De’Angela Balgwinnettcounty.com. raising money for SPCA lard by email at DMBallard@ The 8th annual Georgia drhorton.com or by phone at LILBURN SPCA Run for the Rescues 404-392-1542. Library offering help 5K and Fun Run will take for citizenship paperwork place from 8 a.m. to noon NORCROSS The Gwinnett County Public March 24 at Suwanee Town First Friday concert Library, in conjunction with the Center Park. features Legacy Music Latin American Association The run will go toward and Asian Americans AdvancThe Atlanta-based variety helping homeless pets at ing Justice Atlanta, will host the Georgia SPCA adoption band Legacy Music will perfree N-400 Citizenship Apcenter in Suwanee. form at the city of Norcross’s plication Assistance programs First Friday concert from 7 to Register online at runsignup.com/runfortherescues, at in March and April for lawful 9 p.m. Friday at the Norcross any Big Peach location or on permanent residents at the Cultural Arts and Community site on race day. Lilburn library. Center. Adoption opportunities Sessions are from 10 a.m. The free concert will take featuring SPCA animals and to 1 p.m. March 16 and April place in the Community Centhose in the care of other 20. Qualified legal representer’s banquet room. Seating animal rescue groups will be tatives will be available in is limited, so those interested available. multiple languages, including in attending can reserve a

10C • Sunday, February 25, 2018

gwinnettdailypost.com

lifestyles

Aunt Ozelle and the great magnolia tree

Frequently these days, my sister and I are brought together for a funeral or funeral home visitation of yet another family member, mostly those from Mama and Daddy’s generation although our cousins have begun dying off. On one of the most recent visitations, we stopped for an early dinner and encountered the greatgranddaughters of my beloved Aunt Ozelle, Mama’s oldest sister. I stopped at their table to chat. “It’s so funny that we should run into you today,” said the pretty Mary Beth, who was with her pretty sister, Hannah. “I just went by Nanna’s house today. I know how close you were to her.”

Tom out of the mountains and into a town to make a living. Their baby had died. Their cow, their reliable source of milk and butter, had choked to death when she got her head stuck between slabs in the stall. And their beloved Ronda dog had died, too. Rich “If we’d stayed, we’d probably’ve died, too,” Mama used to say that she recounted in a nonof all the cousins, I loved sentimental tone. That Aunt Ozelle the best. I was was Aunt Ozelle. She was devoted. And not because stoic, somber and smart she was warm, cuddly and as they come. She knew soft. She wasn’t. She was the Bible up one side and a product of a hard raising down the other. She did and a hard beginning of not suffer fools well, beher own family life in the lieving as the King James desperately poor mounBible teaches that a “fool” tains. She once told me it is the worst thing you can was the winter of 1937 that call someone. had forced her and Uncle When I was 5 and 6,

then the summer between my first and second grades, I stayed with Aunt Ozelle while Mama labored in a sewing plant. Aunt Ozelle took no money for this child care. She was doing what mountain people always do — watching out after one of their own. There are many things I remember about those days: the musty root cellar in which I loved to play; Aunt Ozelle’s devotion to “Days of Our Lives,” which we watched faithfully; the bed with the handmade quilt on which I took a nap; how she mixed grape and orange soda together for my refreshment after naptime; and how her little house was always neat, dusted and perfect.

They didn’t have a lot, but they took mighty good care of what they had. Every day at noon on the dot, she called me for lunch to her kitchen, so tiny that her small table, covered with a red checkered oil cloth, was pressed against a wall. She always delivered a delicious lunch. As we ate, a rich baritone voice filled the room, coming from the little radio she kept above the stove. “Hello America, this is Paul Harvey.” His melodic sounds would fill the air as we both listened and ate. In front of the little shotgun house that Aunt Ozelle and Uncle Tom bought brand new in 1945 was a joyous magnolia tree. I played for many hours under that majestic tree. I loved it. In later years, I would realize that it was truly the most beautifully shaped and enormous magnolia I’d

ever seen. Shortly before Aunt Ozelle died at 91, I was visiting. We sat on the screened-in front porch, rocking and talking. “Did you plant that tree?” She nodded. “Just a seedling when I put it in almost 70 years ago.” After her death, the house sold. I have intentionally not been by it there, fearful of one thing. “I hate to ask you this because I hate to know this answer but …” I paused, reaching for nerve, “Did the new owner cut that magnolia down?” Slowly, Mary Beth nodded “yes.” There is nothing more I can say. The sadness is too great. Ronda Rich is the bestselling author of “There’s A Better Day A-Comin’.” Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her free weekly newsletter.

Imagine your spouse calls to say, “I lost my job.” What are the first words out of your mouth? Do you blurt out, “Oh god, what are we going to do for money?” Or do you pause, and think about how your spouse feels in this moment? If you’re like most people, a spouse losing their job is panic inducing. It’s natural to worry about how you’re going to pay your bills. Your natural first thought is how will we pay our bills. But just because that’s your first thought doesn’t mean it has be your first words. Put yourself in your spouse’s shoes; imagine you lost your job. You’re scared, humiliated, and likely angry. When you tell your spouse, which reaction would you prefer? How are we going to pay the mortgage? Or, “Oh baby, I’m so sorry, tell me all about it.” The person who lost their job already feels terrible. They’re likely in full throttle panic. Adding more shame and fear won’t make things better. There will be plenty of time for shared panic in the coming days. In that critical moment — when the person first shares the bad news — what they need most is support. The first words out of your mouth will be what they remember most. You can make the person feel loved, or can leave them feeling alone. When someone shares bad news, it’s natural to think first about how it will impact you. But again, the first thing you think doesn’t have to be the first thing you say. This principle applies at work as well. Imagine your sale rep calls and says she lost the big deal you were counting on to make the quarter. Do you immediately blast her with, “No way, you lost it? This is awful, we needed that deal.” Or do you empathize with their loss, “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I know you were counting on it. What happened?” The deal is already lost. Even if you can

Forget Perfect

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How to make people feel loved (or at least liked)

Lisa McLeod save it, three minutes on the phone with your rep won’t make a difference. The question in that moment is, how do you want your employee to feel? If they’re a low performer and you’re already frustrated, letting them know you’re angry is appropriate. But if the person is a valued team member, who simply had something go the wrong way, shaming and blaming them is not going to improve their performance in the future. Nor will it improve their alliance with you. Good performers hate failure, and they really hate having to tell their boss they failed. You may be thinking, “Oh crap, how am I going to tell my boss?” Again, your first thoughts do not need to be your first words. Though job losses and lost deals are high stakes situations, the same dynamic plays out in lesser circumstances. Your kid dings up the car, your coworker erases the file, your neighbor’s tree swings the wrong way and falls onto your garage. We’ve all seen that person who gets bad news, tenses up, acts like it’s a calamity and makes everyone around them feel worse. It’s never helpful. When someone confesses a problem or mistake to you, the best thing you can do in that moment is empathize and connect. Deal with the person first, the problem second. The people you care about will thank you. Lisa McLeod is the global expert in Noble Purpose. She is the author of the bestsellers “Selling with Noble Purpose” and “Leading with Noble Purpose.”

For Rob Jenkins’ and Good News From Schools columns, see the a Section

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