ANSWERING THE CALL, 1C
Locals give cancer patients rides to treatments
DAWGS OVER HEELS Georgia rallies to beat North Carolina 33-24. • Sports, 1B
Gwinnett Daily Post SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2016
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Vol. 46, No. 204
LAWRENCEVILLE
Brewery may open downtown
Bundled blessings
BY CURT YEOMANS curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com
The business that could potentially become Lawrenceville’s first-ever beer brewery started with a brew of a different sort. Marty Mazzawi, who comes from a family of Gwinnett County dentists and is also a dentist, was running a coffee shop with its own special coffee brew in North Carolina. Meanwhile, his brother-in-law, John Reynolds, is a craft beer and home brewing fan. The family even gave him a home brewing kit for MORE ONLINE Christmas Visit gwinnettdailypost.com one year. for a photo gallery. So Reynolds suggested bringing the two different types of brews together in one drink. “He’s been brewing his own beers for years so he said, ‘You should try getting a brewery to turn your coffee into a beer,’” Mazzawi recalled. “I just said, ‘Why don’t we just do it ourselves?’” That idea lead to the formation of Slowdown Brewing Company, which Mazzawi and Reynolds hope to open next to the old train depot in downtown Lawrenceville. The Lawrenceville City Council will decide at a public hearing on Wednesday whether to approve a zoning change to allow the brewery’s owners to operate in an approximately 106-year-old building on North Clayton Street. Slowdown’s owners want to turn the building into a brewery with a 3,000-square-foot tasting room where visitors can sample the brewery’s beers after taking a tour of the brewing facilities. Georgia law now lets local breweries serve alcohol to visitors, but it must be part of a tour experience where they can see the processes used to make the beer. “We must at least offer them a chance to take a tour,” Mazzawi said. There are about 30 breweries in metro Atlanta, and about 44 located across Georgia, according to the Georgia Craft See BREWERY, Page 9A
Slowdown Brewing Company co-owners and brothers-in-law Marty Mazzawi, left, and John Reynolds pose for this undated photo while working on a commercialgrade brewing system Reynolds was using to work on beer recipes. (Special Photo)
Above, Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital cancer patient Mae Godbee, center, get a visit from Irene Marder of Lawrenceville and radiation therapist Michele Rutherford in Atlanta on Aug. 24. Top, blankets crocheted by Marder for cancer patients at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta are distributed along with a card from Marder on Aug 24. (Photos: Chris Roughgarden)
Woman, 94, makes shawls for cancer patients
BY ERIKA WELLS
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erika.wells@gwinnettdailypost.com
Feeling cold is a common side effect for cancer patients while undergoing chemotherapy, but a petite 94-year-old Lawrenceville woman uses her favorite hobby to warm their bodies and spirits. Irene Marder, known to many as Ms. Irene, crochets individual prayer shawls for patients in the cancer center at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital on Peachtree Dunwoody Road in Atlanta. Ms. Irene makes each shawl, which can be used as a lap blanket, to help them get through a tough period in their lives. “They need God; some of them don’t even know it,” Ms. Irene said with a smile and undeniable compassion. “I hope they know God is still watching over them.” Ms. Irene gave out her brightly colored blanket — this time purple and white — each with a card containing a personal message and her photo Aug. 24. That rainy Wednesday, she walked across a large room
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Irene Marder, right, of Lawrenceville, with the assistance of radiation therapist Michele Rutherford, distributes her handmade crocheted blankets to cancer patients at the cancer center at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta on Aug. 24.
with more than a dozen patients hooked up to IV stands. Each were in a leather reclining chair in a small area along the walls sectioned off by curtains, facing a nurses station.
The New Jersey native would have a bit of small talk with some; for others, she’d simply place the meaningful blanket in their hand and say, “God bless you.” But she
“
They need God; some of them don’t even know it. I hope they know God is still watching over them.” — Irene Marder, maker of shawls for cancer patients
would leave everyone including the hospital staff with a kind smile. Ms. Irene has crocheted as long as she can remember, but now she prays as she makes each blanket. She prays for health for whomever receives it. She prays for their wellbeing, strength and encouragement. “Some patients seem amazed,” said the mother of six said about the prayer blankets. Ms. Irene is the proud grandmother of more than 20 grandchildren and over 30 great-grands. After her granddaughter was diagnosed with breast cancer
See SHAWLS, Page 9A
Resident’s ex-boyfriend charged in arson case from July BY KEITH FARNER
keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com
An accelerant was used in a July fire that Gwinnett Fire investigators ruled an arson and, on Friday, announced an arrest in the case. Tiamo Thorpe, the ex-boyfriend of a woman in the house in the 2400
block of Rockwood Way outside of Stone Mountain was arrested, said Tiamo spokesThorpe man Capt. Tommy Rutledge. Four people were inside the home at the time the
fire was started, and one escaped through a secondfloor window on the back of the house after flames blocked the front entryway. Firefighters responded at 5:35 a.m. July 28 and found heavy flames and smoke showing from the front of a two-story wood frame house. Thorpe, a 31-year-old
College Park resident, is charged with four counts of aggravated assault, one count of first-degree arson, one count of tools for the commission of a crime, one count of stalking and one count of criminal trespass. The eight charges are six felonies and two misdemeanors. Before Thorpe was identified as the suspect in the
case, Rutledge explained the circumstances. “Whoever set fire to the home knew there were occupants inside,” he said. “This was a bold and senseless act that placed multiple people in extreme danger.” Earlier this week, Thorpe was arrested by Atlanta Police on a stalking charge taken by Gwinnett
County Police, for violation of a temporary protection order in connection with the case. Thorpe was transferred back to Gwinnett to face the charge. He was served the additional warrants obtained by Fire investigators Thursday while still in jail. Thorpe is being held in the Gwinnett County jail without bond.
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