Over Coffee

   The Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Awards night on January 9, 2004, was extra special for the members of the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association. They won the award for getting six of the roads in Peachtree Corners adopted and into the wonderful folder of the Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful "Adopt-a-Road Program," which oversees the pickup of roadside trash four times a year. The energetic driver for this civic effort is Pat Bruschini, UPCCA vice president. It is the on-going goal of UPCCA to make Peachtree Corners "amazing!" This countywide recognition of the work being done in this part of western Gwinnett was a nice surprise indeed.

    Just a reminder: Gwinnett Commission Chairman Wayne Hill is speaking to UPCCA on Monday, January 26, 2004, at Simpsonwood Conference & Retreat Center, 4511 Jones Bridge Circle in Peachtree Corners, at 7:30 p.m. He'll be giving the "State of the County" address that the Chamber of Commerce attendees paid to hear, but we'll get for free. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

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   I stopped by the monthly meeting of the North Atlanta Conservative Republican Women in Duluth, Ga. last night because candidate for U.S. Senate Mac Collins was speaking and I had not ever laid eyes on him before. Congressman Collins has his roots in rural Georgia, was elected to Congress in 1992 and is now stepping out to see if he can get elected to the U.S. Senate, Senator Zell Miller's seat. He'll have to step over Congressman Johnny Isakson, businessman Herman Cain, and perennial candidate Al Bartells to do it. 
   Congressman Mac Collins has a steady record in Congress, has been on the Ways and Means Committee for years. He proudly claims that folks can do business with him on a handshake and I believe him. His speaking style, however, is more suited to people who are well rested. He did not rivet the audience with details or passion. Not that those items are the most important ones in the basket of someone's candidacy, but they do matter some. My question to him regarding healthcare in America did not receive quite the response I was hoping for. I wish our members of Congress would understand that this immigration issue that President Bush is grappling with has grave impact on our community nonprofit hospitals. 
   Julianne Thompson, first vice chairman of the Republican Party of Gwinnett County, announced there will be a debate for all four of these Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat from Georgia on Saturday, May 1, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at the Gwinnett Civic Center in Duluth. All four candidates have confirmed their attendance so it will be a great opportunity to hear them, see them, meet them, and compare them. There is no charge to attend and everybody is welcome.

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   On the day after the newspaper accounts appeared about the brutal home invasion in Lilburn, Ga., my husband and I had a long-standing date to go shooting with friends. We all met at the American Classic Marksman indoor shooting range on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. The remarkable thing we noticed that day was the number of women there who were practicing with handguns. 
   I used to be one of those women who would rather make a burglar a cup of tea and try to talk him out of his plan than shoot him on sight. Now, though, from what I've read in the popular press, people who invade people's homes while they are there are a different kettle of fish altogether. Perhaps that idea is what brought out all these women to the target range. Boy Howdy! It would be interesting for somebody to take a poll to see just how many female and armed we have in Gwinnett County. 

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   The Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church on South Old Peachtree in Peachtree Corners has a Catacombs Coffeehouse on Thursday night, January 22, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. The first set of entertainment begins at 8:00 p.m., Celtic folk musicians, the Cavan Girls. The second set will feature Danny Porter, Gwinnett County District Attorney, who was invited to speak about gang activity, but Porter always has an arsenal of interesting subjects and you will surely enjoy whatever is discussed. Christy Kimzey, for the Catacombs Coffeehouse team, promises the usual good assortment of treats and beverages.
   Just as a matter of interest, the Mt. Carmel congregation has been in existence for almost 200 years at this same location. It is a trip through Gwinnett's history to walk through the old cemetery there and read the names on the headstones, names that we now recognize as roads in western Gwinnett.

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   I, for one, do not see anything wrong with having HOPE scholarship winners pay for their books. New textbooks are hugely expensive, that is true, but every campus has a used books selection where you can buy them for a whole lot less. And, there is nothing wrong with having somebody work for what they want. 

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   I really mark time getting through the cold, cold winter months. Other Southerners have expressed the same thought: that life begins sometime in March when the weather warms. Hibernation is really quite a good idea. We have a very quirky furnace at our house, which cuts off the heat at odd moments because the little trap door falls off and the system shuts down. By the time we notice, we're freezing. I think the door falls off whenever a big truck rumbles by or if we experience a slight tremor in the earth. My husband has taken that situation in hand. He's put duct tape on that thing and now we are fine. 

   Hope all is well and thanks for reading.

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