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May 31, 2003
Well, this is fabulous! Wild Bill's and Cowboys, two mega-country Western dance halls, are coming to Gwinnett County. Wild Bill's is opening first on this Southern Saturday night. Cowboys will follow in about six months.
My friends, I have only edged into country music quite slowly. At some time in my young life I decided that "Mama dying by the jukebox and Daddy's in the county jail" just wasn't for me. Then, about a light year later, the great music of Alabama began to change my mind. But, it wasn't until I heard
Tracy Byrd's hysterical song, "The Truth About Men," that I totally became a lo-o-o-o-ver of country music. That song makes me laugh out loud every time I hear it! My sweet husband, who has always liked country music, just smiles.
Given the locale of both of these dance halls, up there in the near vicinity of Gwinnett Place Mall, I believe both of them will do business, contrary to some folks who think only one will ultimately survive. With the advent of the huge numbers of immigrants from Mexico and Central America that Gwinnett County has experienced in recent years, the complexion of Gwinnett Place Mall itself has changed. Many of the small retail merchants in the mall obviously now cater to Mexican tastes. Even some of the merchandise found in the anchor department stores has this look to it.
If you listen to the folks up in Forsyth County, many are not real crazy about this trend. I predict many of these folks will flock to the dance halls in Gwinnett, however. Ultimately, my friends, the Mexicans will favor one and the Americans will favor the other. Both will flourish, but they will serve different clientele.
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School's out and those lazy, hazy days of summer have arrived. Right? Well, not exactly. The yard mowers and trimmers and leaf blowers are louder than ever and there is no such thing as a quiet Sunday afternoon. Weekends used to be full of the sounds of folks who took care of their yards themselves, while weekdays were full of the sounds of the yard maintenance crews, using big machines and mowing for money. Now, commercial yard crews mow and blow on the weekends and in the rain. Nothing stops them except legislation.
According to some research on the Internet, there are already about 20 communities in California that have banned leaf blowers. Don't try to use one in Santa Monica.
Noise pollution in residential neighborhoods from these motors is worse than ever and quality of life suffers. Sound travels in waves through the air similar to what waves do in water. The greater the number of waves, the greater the frequency of pitch. The strength of sound, or sound level, is measured in decibels (dB). The decibel scale is logarithmic, which is based on powers of ten, rather than linear like a ruler. That means that a small increase in decibels represents a great increase in intensity. The sound intensity multiplies by 10 with every 10-decibel increase. The average human hears every increase of 10 dB as a doubling in loudness.
If 70 dB is the point at which noise begins to harm hearing, it's probably no accident that a quick perusal of the gas-powered leaf blowers offered for sale at the local Home Depot have decibel levels that hover around the 65-69 mark, if you can even find the decibel notice on the box. Check this out for yourself. Also, look up Noise Pollution on your search engine and see what you find.
Have you noticed that it's a rule of Murphy's Law that no two neighbors will fire up their leaf blowers at the same time? Part of this noise scourge is to make the annoyance last for as long as possible for those who are forced to listen to it. My only consolation is to imagine these leaf blower people going stone deaf. Do you think they will wonder why?
Sometimes progress isn't always progress.
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The dedication of the Fallen Heroes Monument in Lawrenceville on Memorial Day was quite an interesting and emotional affair. This day was the culmination of about ten years of work by
Ron and Carolyn Buice and some others, whose vision it was to honor the men and women of Gwinnett County who have lost their lives in the service to others.
The monument itself manages to invoke a feeling of serenity and peace, even though it is located on land adjacent to the busy parking lot of the Gwinnett County Justice and Administration Center. The memorial is beautifully done.
It's too bad that Commissioner Marcia Neaton's name is on the pedestal that lists the sitting county commissioners since she voted against this memorial. In fact, Ron Buice asked her why she even showed up for the dedication. Neaton was seen to grab scissors and get herself in the middle for the ribbon cutting, while Commissioners
Wayne Hill and Kevin Kenerly didn't even take part in this service so someone else could. Carolyn Buice shared a pair of scissors with
David Everett, son of slain police officer Jerry Everett.
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Thanks for reading. Hope all is well.
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