Gwinnett’s oldest locally owned newspaper - established 1988 Covering Snellville, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville
Vol. 29, No. 9
The RAILYARD page 6
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JULY 2017
Native combines career with love of fishing By Dan Brown Staff Correspondent
Home cooked meals page 9
There are few better stories among the annals of sports than locking horns with “The Biggun.” The Biggun, in this case, is usually the one that got away. Among fishermen, the one that got away is always a little bigger, a little craftier, and a little meaner than the ones you reeled in. Such battles are the ultimate in “mano a mano” competition, a victor and a vanquished, a winner and a loser. Usually, in fishing, it’s the one that got away, and the ardent pursuit of landing that next big fish. It’s why sportsmen strap on the gear and head out on the water at the first hint of daybreak spilling above the horizon to the east each morning. We want that fish. To be able to call this one’s livelihood is truly a blessing. Work stress… what work stress? You are on the water, rod and reel in hand, and an empty cooler anxiously awaiting the day’s catch.
See FISHING on page 26
53 years later page 17
Special Photo
Chris Doster, owner and operator of Spooled Out Guide Service
Everson’s job at Gwinnett Hurdling Obstacles to take State Middle School Tech a perfect fit Championship By Katie Hart Smith Staff Correspondent
Jon Langston rocks Grayson page 38
INSIDE Picture Perfect 4 Gwinnett Pulse 6 Roadrunner 24 Health & Wellness 32 Classifieds 36 Spiritual 38
PRESORT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LILBURN,GA PERMIT NO. 99 ECR-WSS POSTAL CUSTOMER
Shiloh Middle School, “The Generals”, boys track team won the Georgia Middle School Track and Field Championships on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at Parkview High School. Teammate, Joshua Scott, now a fourteen year old rising freshman at Shiloh High School, hurdled medical obstacles with sheer determination and will-power to help propel his team to the top. Scott has always loved to run. “The track coach, Patrick Reifsteck, saw something in me when I was in the 6th grade.” With the support of his parents, Sidiq and Keisha Young, Scott pursued his passion by running on the school track team. He even enrolled in a competitive running club called Adrenaline Rush Track Team, a USA Track and Field in the Georgia Association that is based in Snellville. Coach Ken Scott trains the team; athletes are from the Archer, Brookwood, Grayson, Shiloh, and Special Photo the South Gwinnett school cluster. Shiloh Middle School track star, Joshua Last year, Scott broke his big toe Scott, sprints to take first place in the 400-meter race at the 2017 Georgia Middle School State Championship.
See HURDLING on page 40
Special Photo
One of the biggest areas Melvin Everson affects is Information Technology (IT), a rapidly growing field.
By Carole Townsend Staff Correspondent The name “Melvin Everson” is a household name to many in Gwinnett, especially to those who live in Snellville. The man who has worked his way up through the state’s political ranks as a councilman, member of the House of Representatives, Director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce
Development, then Executive Director and Administrator of the Georgia Office of Equal Opportunity, has come back home to Gwinnett County. In April of this year, Everson assumed the role of Director of Business and Industry Training at Gwinnett Technical College. Although this new job isn’t in the political arena, Everson will pull from his many years’ experience in this new
See
TECH on page 42