It’s time for “Hands are Not For Hitting” puppet shows to be available for local schools. Left to right are show organizer Phyllis Caffey, show originator Ralph Greene, and Gwinnett County Solicitor Rosanna Szabo, sponsor of the program. The show brings an important message to school children about the harmful effects of bullying.
Shown here are some descendants of Buford residents Pearl and Carl Pruitt, now deceased. Back row, Left to right: Anthony Taylor, Andrea and Jay Taylor, Pamela Taylor, Nick Taylor, Carl Pruitt, Perry Pealock, and Danny Daniel. In front are Kara and Cole Taylor.

NEWS FROM THE 19TH
AND 20TH CENTURIES
On Thursday June 17, 1903 Lawrenceville’s electric lights were turned on for the first time. The Thursday, June 18 edition of The News Herald reported: “The current was turned on for a short while last night and the arc lights on the square burned nicely.” The Cornett Hotel at the corner of Perry and Crogan was the only house which had been wired when the street lights were turned on but other houses were quickly added to the system.
Betty Jo Oakes Summerour and Victor Allen McKelvey at the opening of the Lawrenceville Welcome Center. Betty Jo was married in the house and Victor’s great-grandmother had Mrs. McKelvey’s School in the house.
The Lawrenceville Public School System began classes on January 15, 1895 in the First Baptist Church on Clayton Street. The church was opposite the site of the Lawrenceville Female Academy on Clayton Street.
In 1909 the maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 miles per hour, the average wage was 22 cents per hour and more than 95 per cent of all births took place at home.

21ST CENTURY NEWS
Music in the Grayson Park is at 7p.m on the last Saturday through October. People gather under the big shed to hear local musicians play and sing old hymns and country music; all are invited to join the audience or bring an instrument and play along.
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The Snellville Historical Society fall meeting will be on Sunday October 11, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. at Snellville City Hall.
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Dustin Sosebee, Central High graduate sang the Alma Mater and Star Spangled Banner at the August graduation ceremony at the University of Georgia. Dustin, the son of Dan and Jan Sosebee of Grayson, is a senior music major at UGA. He is the praise and worship director at Tuckston United Methodist Church in Athens and is worship leader for the Wesley Foundation at UGA.
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Why did this chicken cross the road? Apparently to get to be on the statue in Gainesville, Georgia. Known as Chicken City because of all the poultry business in the area, Gainesville, the Hall County Seat, was once known as Mule Camp Springs. Gainesville was named for Edmund Pendleton Gaines who was born in Culpepper county, Virginia on March 20, 1777. In 1799 Gaines was appointed an ensign in the U.S. Army, then promoted to second lieutenant. In 1804 he was assigned to Mobile, Alabama and two years later captured Aaron Burr then testified at his trial. Gaines rose to the rank of brigadier general during the War of 1812 and when the county site of Hall County was established in 1822, it was named in honor of General Gaines, who was well known at the time for his able military leadership.
Fourteen members of the Buford Class of 1960 met for a reunion at the Golden Corral in Buford in July.
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Members of the Beta Rho Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society will meet in Downtown Lawrenceville on Saturday, October 3 for a Trolley Tour of historic sites in the area.
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The opening ceremony for the Lawrenceville Visitor’s Center was held on Thursday, July 23, 2009. The center is in the renovated home of the Jule Oakes Family on East Crogan Street.
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Members of the Lawrenceville High School Class of 1949 (Some had moved before graduation time): Grace and Marie Britt, Reba Brooks, Geraldine Butler, Josephine Byrd, Mary Lou Crowe, Juanita Davis, Kelley Davis, Norma Davis, Ralph Davis, Mary Lou Dunagan, Dorsey Duncan, Mary Frazier, Opal Gunter, Warren Hendrix, Bryant Huff, Joyce Jones, Ruth Key, Fred Lord, Johnny Martin, Eddie Oakes, Charles Park, Lloyd Pass, Sula Puckett, Dorothy Russell, Jesse Satterfield, Elizabeth Wade. Deceased: Josephine Byrd, Kelley Davis, Johnny Martin, Juanita Davis.
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Graduates from the South Gwinnett High School classes of 1979-1989 will have a reunion on October 3, 2009. For more information on this reunion, go to the reunion website at www.southgwinnettreunion.com

The newly opened Alexander Park is located on property once owned by Jane Alexander, third from left. Jane, a retired educator is active in Gwinnett County. Jane is shown here with educators Glyndia Norton, Pamela Witt and Elsie Roberts.
LIFETIME TEACHER
Jane Alexander taught in public school for 30 and 1/2 years and she has taught Sunday school for 59 years. Jane first taught for 3 years in Laurens County, 1 year at Reinhardt College, 1 and 1/2 in Duluth, 5 years at the old Grayson High School, 19 years at South Gwinnett, and 1 year and a half in Tucker. She taught Sunday School for 57 years at Snellville United Methodist Church and 2 years in Athens.
Jane was born in Johnson County, Georgia then her family moved to Laurens County where she spent her growing up years; Jane was one of the 10 children of her parents. Jane finished high school in Adrian, Georgia then went to the Rabun gap two year college; she went to Piedmont College for her junior and senior years. She began teaching after her junior year in college but finished her degree by going to summer school at Piedmont. Later Jane went to the University of Georgia to earn Masters and Specialist degrees in her field of business education.
Jane and her husband J.T. Alexander married in 1946 and they came to Gwinnett County when J.T. was student teaching at Duluth; J.T. later became the assistant county agent in Gwinnett before taking the job as county agent with the Extension Service. They bought the farm, part of which became Alexander Park, in 1948 and in 1949 they moved to the land that had been a cotton farm on a dirt road and they have made that their home for all the years since that time.
Jane and J.T. were parents of Shirley who married Don Smith. Shirley and Don’s two sons and their wives are parents of four children; three of those children are triplets.
Jane is the last of the original H2U volunteers still working at Emory Eastside Hospital in Snellville; she began her 22nd year volunteering on Mondays at the hospital and she never misses her day to assist the families of patients. Jane is active in the Snellville First United Methodist Church where she goes to many church related organizations and events. She has been in Gwinnett Homemakers Club for more than 50 years and she regularly attends the monthly meetings; the September meeting will be held in Alexander Park. She meets with the Rabun Gap Alumni group as well as with the VSP group at the Lawrenceville First United Methodist Church. She served as president of Gwinnett Retired Educators Association and has held many offices in the Beta Rho Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Spociety. Jane attends conventions connected with the groups she belongs to and her whirlwind of activities amazes her family and friends.One of Jane’s favorite activities is going to McDonald’s with her grandchildren and enjoying lunch every other week; chicken nuggets and french fries are favorite foods on those outings.
Jane’s friends are often recipients of her home baked bread and that bread often brings a good price when she donates loaves of it to local charity events.
We celebrate Jane’s generosity in providing the beautiful park and in giving her time to volunteer work in this county and state. Keep up the good work, Liza Jane Alexander.

CLOWER RECOGNIZED
Grace Clower was recognized at a recent Snellville City Council meeting with a proclamation. The proclamation was in recognition of her many years of community service through the Snellville Lions Club and Lions Club International. It further acknowledged her election as District governor of District 18-D, Northeast Georgia.
The proclamation read, in part, “Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved that I, Jerry Oberholtzer, Mayor of the City of Snellville, Georgia, where “Everybody is Somebody” along with the Citizens of Snellville, proclaim Grace Clower as “Somebody” and officially acknowledge the outstanding achievements and contributions of her Leadership, Loyalty and Friendship that have touched many people and wish her much success in the coming year as District Governor of the Lions Club.
Clower has been active in Lions for 23 years. Her District Governor term will extend from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. The Snellville Lions Club was chartered in 1952 and still serves the community. For information on Snellville Lions Club, call Marlene Gillman at 770-309-6589.

Friends for Life: Members of the Lawrenceville High School Class of 1949 meet monthly for lunch at one of the many restaurants in Downtown Lawrenceville. Left to right: Joyce Jones Reed, Marie Britt Duncan, Reba Brooks Bridges, Gerladine Butler Keller, Grace Britt Cain, Sula Puckett Clack, Mary Frazier Long. The Class of 1949 had 24 members and was the last class to graduate from the Lawrenceville independent school system; the school had voted to merge into the Gwinnett County School System in the fall of 1948. All the women live in the Metro area and have remained in touch with each other for most of their lives; they have all passed their seventieth birthdays but most will not say how far past. They catch up on what’s happening by phone and when they meet for lunch. Joyce, Geraldine and Mary began first grade together so they have been friends since their snaggle tooth and thumb sucking days. Joyce taught school for 30 years and Mary taught for 34 years; each had two sons. Geraldine had one daughter and worked as an accounting clerk and as a labor analyst. Grace was the mother of three children and worked as the administrative assistant to three Gwinnett County School Superintendents. Sula worked for Southern Bell for ten years then became a full time mom who raised three children and Reba a businesswoman and mother of three still works part time at a local retail store. Sula and Mary are cancer survivors, Reba survived a heart attack. The seven women brought a total of 17 children into the world and they count 21 grandchildren. If more class members joined the lunch bunch those numbers would increase dramatically. How amazing is it that seven women have known each other, kept in touch and loved each other for nearly seventy years.




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