APRIL IS AUTISM
AWARENESS MONTH

Betty Echols retired from Duluth Middle School is active with volunteer work and sometimes substitute teaching.	Dr. Beverly Dryden received the volunteer of the year award for 2011 from the Gwinnett Retired Educators Association.	Bill York, author, spoke to the Gwinnett Historical Society on March 21st.

THROUGH THE REAR VIEW MIRROR
• US Presidents born in April: Thomas Jefferson, third President was born on April 13, 1743; James Buchanan, 15th President was born on April 23, 1791; Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President was born on April 27, 1822; James Monroe, fifth President was born on April 28, 1758.

Jack Britt built and donated the memorabilia cabinet for the archives room at the Lawrenceville First Baptist Church.

• Washington was inaugurated as the First President of the United States on April 30, 1789.
• This year Good Friday is on April 22 and Easter Sunday is on April 24.
• John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865.
• Paul Revere made his famous ride on April 18, 1775. “On the eighteenth of April in ’75, hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year and the midnight ride of Paul Revere.” William Dawes and Robert Prescott rode from Lexington to Concord and on the way Revere was captured and did not finish the ride. Revere rode on a borrowed horse.
• The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912.
• William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.
• The News Herald (a local newspaper) April 30, 1924: “A tornado followed by a heavy rain hit Lawrenceville.” That was the tornado that destroyed the Rocky Knob School on Honeysuckle Avenue in Lawrenceville.
• April 1, 1941, the Public Health offices opened in the Gwinnett County Courthouse basement.

GALA Committee: Betty Warbington, Marie Beiser, Kathy Oldham, Janet Hoskins, ElaineRoberts, Rachel Bronnum. Not pictured, Mary Long, Paula McGee, Spence Roberts, Anna Shackleford, Sandra Strickland, Scott Holtzclaw, Bill Baughman.

CURRENT EVENTS
• The 2011 GALA for the Gwinnett Historical Society will be held on Friday, June 10th, 2011 beginning at 6:30. The event theme is 1950’s Sock Hop and it will be held at the Gwinnett County Historical Courthouse.
• Charlotte Nash was elected Gwinnett County chairwoman on March 15, 2011; she received more than half of the 16,500 votes cast.
• The memorial service for Keith Price was on Sunday March 6 at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church. Keith is survived by His wife, Patsy Craft Price and children Tom and Helen Price; Don and Dottie Price; Peg Price; Richard and Sylvia Price; Kathy and Jim Lawler; Melinda and Todd Russell; grandchildren and great-grandchildren David and Luisi Price; Kendall Cuthbertson; Jeremy Price; Benjamin and Mary Price; Patrick and Anna Price; Kris and Caspar Lawler; Jenna and Dan Ernst; Sydney Russell; Andrew Russell. Keith lived in Lawrenceville for the last 42 years; before that he worked in radio and television. One of his jobs included working with Muppets creator Jim Henson; other jobs included directing the second Kennedy/Nixon debate, directing several political conventions and working on the Huntley/Brinkley Report. After retirement Keith sang in the choir at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church; he also composed and arranged music. Keith enjoyed spending time singing and playing games with family members.

The principal of Moore Middle School, Lamont Mays, met with Moore Foundation Chairman Rubye Wilburn Neal at a recent Central Gwinnett High School meeting. Mr. Hays will be first principal of the school located in Lawrenceville on Highway 29 West. The school opens for the school year in August 2011. Moore Middle School was built to hold 1500 students and the building is scheduled for occupancy on June 1, 2011.

• Mike Royal, Lawrenceville resident, has been appointed to the Georgia Board of Education by Governor Nathan Deal.
• One of the three T-ball fields at the E.E. Robinson Park at Sugar Hill was named in honor of Stephen H. Ginn son of State Senator Frank Ginn.
• The Designing Grandmothers of Snellville Chapter #1006, National Federation of Grandmothers held a Bunko Blizzard on March 24, 2011. The event location was Summit Chase Country Club and it was a benefit to raise funds in support of childhood cancer research.
• The Robbie Susan Moore Foundation For Education will hold the second fund raiser on Sunday April 3, 2011 at 3 p.m. at Inviting Events; 3485 G Stone Mountain Highway 78, Snellville, Georgia. Tickets are $35. For more information call 770-277-5123.
• Kenneth Whaley, Trickum Middle School Math Teacher has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the Graduate Student Scholar Award presented by the Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education.
• Lawrenceville City Council members voted to ask the Georgia General Assembly to amend the city charter to create a city manager position. The vote: Marie Beiser (N); P.K. Martin (Y); Tony Powell (Y); Katie Hart Smith (Y).
• Star Teacher for 2011 at Central Gwinnett High School is Kim Mallett and Star Student is Rhett Henry.
• The Snow Makeup Days for Gwinnett County Public Schools will be April 22 and May 27; this means that the last day of school will be on May 27 so graduation dates and times will be changed.
• KidStuff will host a Family Fun and Fishing Festival for children with autism on April 9, 2011 at Tribble Mill Park. This event is open to families throughout the Atlanta Metro Area who have children with autism.

UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Umbrellas are made to keep you from getting soaked in a downpour. Some names for this device are brolley, rainshade, gamp or bumbershoot. The parasol is not waterproof and it is used to protect from the sun, for decoration; when they were popular in early America women sometimes used them to send non verbal messages. In New Orleans parasols are used in parades of all kinds.

It isn’t raining rain, it’s raining daffodils. Anna Britt and Sarah Clack hold a parasol as they admire the beautiful daffodils growing in Downtown Lawrenceville.		Diane Lockwood Area XIV Director for the Georgia Retired Educators Association	Lawrenceville Mayor Judy Johnson holding a parasol in the middle of usually busy Clayton Street.

Garrett Davis, a recent graduate of Georgia College and State University holds an umbrella. Garrett is a Central High School graduate, worked as a Legislative Assistant at the State Capitol during the 2011 session of the state legislature.	April enjoying April sunshine; April Houston holding a parasol under sunny skies.	It rains on the just and the unjust and on the Reverend Inman Houston standing under an umbrella near the Lawrenceville First Baptist Church where he serves as Senior Pastor.