Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson: Serve with Intention in 2023

By Our Town Gwinnett Staff

Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman

Nicole Hendrickson recently addressed hundreds of business owners, residents, and stakeholders during her third State of the County address. “The choices of almost a million people – and more over the years – created Gwinnett’s steady past, its vibrant present, and its promising future,” Hendrickson said. “And whether subconscious or not, every decision we make is guided by intention – the choice to proactively solve a problem. It’s the small, yet intentional acts of bravery, kindness, and support that fuel the Gwinnett spirit. This is serving with intention.”

Hendrickson said that intentionality has been the reason Gwinnett has solidified itself as a proven leader in the region. From water testing and quality of life to public safety and a low unemployment rate, the County’s proven track record has forged public-private partnerships that are key to the County’s success. During her remarks, Hendrickson acknowledged the death of Gwinnett Corrections Officer

Scott Riner by leading a moment of silence. Sadly, Riner was killed while arriving to work last December. Within days, Gwinnett Police identified and arrested the suspect in the case, due to quick actions and excellent investigative work.

Here are more takeaways:

Gun Crimes Unit, Gwinnett Safe Communities Program

“Our police department is also leveraging technology to reduce and respond to gun violence,” she said. “When a gun-related crime is committed in Gwinnett, our Gun Crimes Unit uses ballistic science to connect shell casings from scenes to guns possessed by suspects.” That information is then entered into a national database to make connections with other crimes across the country.

Connections are also what has made the Gwinnett Safe Communities Program a success. The program allows police to work with community stakeholders to provide access to cameras, license plate readers, and other technology.

Housing and a new homeless shelter

While access to affordable housing continues to challenge communities across the country, the County will do its part to make sure Gwinnett is a place where everyone thrives.

“Over the next few years, in partnership with the Gwinnett Housing Corporation and Gwinnett/Walton Habitat for Humanity,” Hendrickson said, “we will be able to provide 390 affordable low-income housing units. But the work doesn’t end there.” A multi-family building in Lawrenceville will be converted into shelter units to serve adult men and couples with no children. Federal funds will be used for the shelter.

New name, new look for Gwinnett Transit

2023 kicked off with a new look and a name for Gwinnett Transit: Ride Gwinnett. “Not only does it tell you what to do,” Hendrickson added, “this new name and look connects with Gwinnett County’s brand to show riders that they can expect the same great service they

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Snellville Performing Arts Takes Awards at the Junior Theater Festival

By Tana Poncsak

Snellville Performing Arts was one of 125 groups that attended the worldwide iTheatrics International Junior Theater Festival in January. The group competed with a cut of their production of Once on this Island, Jr., and received the All-Festival Freddie G Inspiration Award. Stephanie Wallace McDonald, executive director of Snellville Performing Arts, was thrilled for her students who performed at the festival, as the award encompasses everything she hopes to show with the theatre they create.

“People watch theatre to be inspired and to be touched,” McDonald said, adding that out of 125 groups and over 6,500 people, she is proud that her twenty-three students were chosen for this award.

And that’s not the only award the group received. Its student choreography team for the show, led by seventeen-year-old Joy Woods, also received an award. McDonald was happy to see the students, who had worked so hard and created choreography that is “genuine and true to the story,” recognized.

And finally, McDonald herself received an invitation to the Freddie G Fellowship. This invitation goes to outstanding directors who create truly inspiring and exceptional work. Recommendations by a current student, an industry colleague, and a member of the community are all part of the application process, and out of 150 to 200 directors, McDonald was one of only three directors to receive an invitation this year.

“To hear Snellville called out, seeing the kids cheering, and to know that our kids are inspiring and creating phenomenal theatre is really heartwarming,” McDonald said.

Snellville Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization, has been a long time in the making and came from McDonald’s own passion to share her love of theatre with others. Now technically in its fifth year, it’s been a dream come true.

McDonald, who is also an art teacher at South Gwinnett High School, grew up in Snellville and played every sport imaginable, but she was passionate about theatre, taking part in Odyssey of the Mind and her school’s shows. She also recalled an influential theatre teacher in middle school. But it was when she was around eight or nine years old on a cruise ship with her family as she watched a rehearsal of a live stage performance that she was hooked.

“Seeing theatre this way as a live, onstage production with this huge audience was an overwhelming thing, and I just fell in love with it,” she said.

And she’s been involved in some way ever since. In fact, many on staff at Snellville Performing Arts have been McDonald’s previous students, including Managing Director Alyssa Paduano, and that’s made it all the more rewarding for McDonald.

“Seeing them [staff members] look at our kids [while performing] the way I had looked at them when they were kids [while performing], there’s nothing better,” McDonald said. “And now to work together with them to light that same passion in others in my hometown and the place I grew up in, it’s incredible.”

Upcoming shows include Finding Nemo, Jr. performed by the Junior Company with performances scheduled in April, and Newsies performed by the Senior Company with performances scheduled in May.

More information at www.snellvilleperformingarts.com.