City of Suwanee remembering its past while embracing

BY BETH SLAUGHTER SEXTON STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Known as forward-thinking and on-the-go while embracing its white-hot future—Google even named it “Georgia’s eCity”--the award-winning City of Suwanee knows that to understand where it’s going, it needs to know where it’s been.

In conjunction with North Gwinnett High School senior Ashlee Tam, Suwanee is working to record much of that past as it seeks to identify its many cultural assets through the Suwanee Historic Downtown Preservation Initiative. A cultural asset is something that has value because of its contribution to a community’s creativity, knowledge, traditions, culture, meaning and vitality. Tam has spent the past few months identifying some of Suwanee’s local cultural assets, researching and writing about them and interviewing the “local legends” who impacted the people and places and some names in Suwanee. The Suwanee Historic Downtown Preservation Initiative will serve as Tam’s Girl Scout Gold Award Project.

At the top of the list is Everett’s Music Barn where brothers Randall and Roger Everett established bluegrass in Suwanee in 1964. Playing guitars and singing together, they entered a local radio show talent contest and became regular members of the show with their family attending each week to provide the applause. The shows were recorded on Friday nights in the family living room and then jam sessions began taking place on Saturdays until finally a music room and a barn were added to the home to accommodate the growing number of guests and musicians. While the brothers have passed on, their dream and music live on each Saturday night beginning at 8 p.m. The stage is open to all levels of talent for jam sessions.

Through her research and recording of events, Tam shares many interesting stories of people, places and things important to the history and culture of Suwanee. She tells about the 1950s Suwanee Caboose, which was acquired in 1992 by the city to honor Suwanee’s roots as a town built on the foundation of transportation. The old caboose was rusty and in need of restoration, so a local body shop donated paint and volunteers came out to paint, including Atlanta Braves pitcher Mark Wohler. At the time, the City of Suwanee did not have a tree lighting ceremony. Jeannine Haynes and Polly Holt took the opportunity to “light up the caboose” and the Caboose Lighting tradition was born that Thanksgiving in 1994. The landmark is stationed at Main Street near Pierce’s Corner overlooking the shops in Old Town Suwanee. To read more of Tam’s stories about the City of Suwanee’s cultural assets, visit www. Suwanee.com.

The Suwanee community has been called one of the most desirable places to live in the Atlanta area and has been named by several national publications as one of the best places to live and raise families, including Money, Family Circle and Kiplinger. com. Suwanee has also been named Georgia’s eCity by Google. Google’s eCity Awards recognize the strongest online business community in each state. These cities’ businesses are using the web to find new customers, connect with existing customers and fuel their local economies.

The City of Suwanee states it is committed to maintaining a high-quality of life for its approximately 19,000-plus residents.

Suwanee is known for its many parks, special events and mixeduse developments, as well as more than 600 acres of park land and many miles of walking trails. The Town Center is called the community’s “front yard” where residents and visitors gather for events, or to shop, eat or simply relax and play.

Suwanee has an extensive listing of activities ranging from food trucks and festivals to special running events, fashion shows, outdoor movies, concerts and other entertainment. For a complete listing, go to https://www.suwanee.com/explore-suwanee/events. Of particular note are the Summer Porch Jam on June 16, at 6 p.m. at 541 Main Street in Old Town Suwanee and Suwanee Fest September 9, at 9 a.m. at Town Center Park. In addition, the City of Suwanee is noted for its unique SculpTour, which brings a variety of sculptures to downtown Suwanee on a rotating basis.

Many of its initiatives and projects have earned the City of Suwanee regional, state and national awards and certifications for the past several years. Just in 2022, the City of Suwanee won more than a dozen awards, including the Georgia Downtown Excellence Award for Glow in the Park with the Atlanta International Night Market, Creative New Event; Best Cities to Live in the South #32, 24/7 Wall Street; Best Event Over $75,000, Silver, Suwanee Fest 2021, Southeast Festivals & Events Association; Number 1 Beer Festival in the Country, Suwanee American Craft Beer Fest, USA Today and The Starr Award, Mayor Jimmy Burnette, Georgia Municipal Association, to name several.