CITIZEN
Vol. 31 No. 9
Daycation ideas page 4
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So u t h
gwinnett Est. 1988 Covering Snellville, Lawrenceville, Grayson, Loganville
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JULY 2019
www.gwinnettcitizen.com
Kirby Smart, The Golden By Julie Thompson GwinnettCitizen.com
Parks and Rec page 10
He’ll steal sandwiches directly from your hand. And keys. And butter from off the counter. The day of the butter incident was like any ordinary day in the Leftwich household. Kirby Smart the Golden was up to his usual mischief, and when his humans left the room, he jumped on the counter, devouring an entire pack of KerryGold butter. His humans caught it all on their security camera and sent the footage to the company who proceeded to send him cases of butter and cheese of his own so he wouldn’t have to steal. But Kirby’s habit of swiping food persists. As his human, Amanda Leftwich, says, “When people meet him, they think he’s sweet and innocent, but he’s a thief!” So, neighbors be warned, Kirby Smart, an English Cream Golden Retriever, is a trickster! Since adopting the pup last September from Calhoun, Ga., Amanda has had a hard time keeping track of her shoes and even house keys. “I had been missing my spare for weeks, and one day Kirby walks in from the yard with the keys — he had them in his mouth!” But he’s as lovable as he is uncouth. To the Leftwich family, Kirby came at just the right time — tricks and all. Conrad, their family dog of eight years had passed from
See KIRBY on Page 30 Free Workshop page 11
Special photo
Kirby loves to swim with his humans.
Vaping Attention to Prevention
Mama turns 90
By Julie Thompson GwinnettCitizen.com
Passion and Strategy page 25
INSIDE Citizen Connection 4 Gwinnett Pulse 8 Road Runner 14 Health & Wellness 18 Spiritual 24
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Twin brothers Juan and Marco Borrego are upcoming sophomores at Buford High School. Last year, they participated in NPR’s high school podcast challenge, and along the way, they’ve founded a nonprofit organization “Vaping Attention to Prevention.” Even before the podcast challenge, the boys had noticed a growing problem at school. In the hallways, in the bathrooms and even in class, kids their age and younger were inhaling vaporized nicotine like it was candy. And many of the teachers and administrators had no idea. “It’s a big issue in our high school, Juan, age 15, said of the habit which requires a battery run E-cigarette device often referred to as the leading brand name, “Juul” or just a “Vape”. “No one seems to know how bad vaping really is, so we researched it and decided to make that our podcast topic for the challenge.” The Georgia Department of Health (GDH) conducted a survey showing the number of high school students in Georgia who have used
Special photo
The Borrego twins— Juan and Marco. These fifteen-year-old, rising sophomores are the founders of Vaping Attention to Prevention, a nonprofit organization.
E-cigarettes at least once has increased by 66 percent from 2012 to 2017. Consequently, the GDH now considers electronic cigarette use among youth is “a major health concern.” And yet, Marco and Juan find that many of their peers and even teachers aren’t aware that vaping is a huge problem at their school. They formed the non-profit Vaping Attention to Prevention (VATP) for
See VAPING on Page 28
Doris Lorraine Harris Snell By Mandy Snell The year was 1947, March. Doris Lorraine Harris came to Snellville to finish school early so she could start her nursing career (back then in Snellville there were only 11 grades). She was living with her cousins, Thelma and Gerald Brownlee. Somewhere around September, of the same year, they walked to the Snellville Consolidated school to watch a few ‘boys’ play ball. Mother was leaning upon a fence and a young man caught her eye. She
Photo by Emmett Clower
asked Thelma, “Who is that boy in the white T-shirt?” Thelma replied, “Oh, that’s Hugh Snell and don’t you even think about it.... he’s a little on the wild side.” Ha, needless to say, our mama did not listen to her. It wasn’t long before the two were going out to dinner and a few dances. There was definitely a spark there. I know this because my aunts told me! They said they had never seen their little brother so smitten. On March 13, 1948, they had a date to go square dancing in Co-
See MAMA on Page 26