CITIZEN
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gwinnett Est. 1988 Covering Duluth, Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Berkeley Lake, Lilburn
Vol. 30 No. 7
Only 1 of 34 in Georgia page 9
FREE
MAY 2018
www.gwinnettcitizen.com
Peachtree Corners church approaches 150-year anniversary Much of the area’s rich history rooted in Shiloh Baptist Church By Carole Townsend GwinnettCitizen.com
Creative ways page 7
Sam Wehunt, a Deacon at Shiloh Baptist Church in Peachtree Corners, proudly walks through the sanctuary of the church, telling stories about the structure and its features. There’s likely no one better to share the church’s history; Wehunt has spent 45 years of his life documenting ancestry and the history of his home church. The research and Shiloh Baptist Church are his passion. “The church started meeting here in 1868, 17 years before members borrowed the eight hundred dollars it took to build this building,” he explained, pointing to the quaint structure with rich stained-glass windows gracing its walls. The site on which the church building is situated is where Washington Academy stood, Special Photo the first school to be built in the Pinckneyville Shiloh Baptist Church entrance. The neat, simple structure – church home to many families over the years – adds
See SHILOH on Page 19
Mural brightens Mitchell Road page 15
Healthcare in the 1980’s Berkeley Lake company celebrates Earth Day and Beyond By Carole Townsend GwinnettCitizen.com
Good luck girls! page 16
Citizen Connection Health & wellness
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Georgia Gwinnett College
By Katie Hart Smith GwinnettCitizen.com
INSIDE 4 12
beauty and charm to the area.
On April 11, 2018, I had the honor of participating on Georgia Gwinnett College’s School of Health Sciences panel discussion titled, “Healthcare in the 80’s and Beyond,” at the Button Gwinnett Day Celebration. Fellow panelists included Dr. Lloyd Hofer, Medical Director of Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale Public Health, Dr. Greg Lang, Executive Director, Good Samaritan Clinic, and Pamela Garland, Chief Nursing Officer, Gwinnett Medical Center. After the session, attendees shared how much
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they appreciated the information and were enlightened. Passionate about healthcare, past, present, and future, I’ll relay just a few of my observations, thoughts, and provide a high-level overview of the evolution of healthcare in our community and country. Gwinnett County is the second largest county in Georgia by population. According to the U.S. Census in 1980, the population was 167,000. In 2017, the county’s population exploded to 920,000 residents. This is an increase of 753,000 people in thirty-seven years - an estimated average of approximately
See HEALTH on page 14
Mary Hester, CEO of LAN Systems in Berkeley Lake, greets guests on a sunny Friday afternoon, playing the role of hostess at her company’s annual Earth Day observance. Once a year, on the Thursday or Friday before Earth Day, LAN Systems opens its doors to the public, for both a cookout and the opportunity to bring any old or unwanted electronics for recycling. The event, offered to the public every year since 2008, is a real and necessary observance of Earth Day. “People don’t know what to do with this stuff once it’s broken, outdated, or they don’t need it anymore,” Hester said, pointing at boxes piled high with computers, televisions and other electronic items.” This year, on April 20, LAN Systems collected eight large boxes of items to be recycled, filling almost half of the big box truck that hauled them away. Lan Systems’ Jonathan Brooks and Josh Stanley, along with Michael Paul of the Piedmont Park Conservancy (the Conservancy is a Lan Systems client), removed the hard drives from every computer that was dropped off for recycling.
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Brooks and Hester with one of the eight boxes of electronics dropped off for recycling
According to Brooks, “We shred them to protect the person’s data and privacy. Shredding the drive is the only way to be sure that all of the data has been destroyed. The drive is shredded just like paper is shredded. When it’s gone, it’s gone.” Often, people are hesitant to leave their computers anywhere for recycling, because the process of “bleaching” a hard drive isn’t 100 percent effective. Hester is proud of the annual
See
EARTH on page 10