2010 Meetings

Jan 21, 2010
It's New Year's resolution time again and there is no better time then now to resolve to improve the environment of your community. The January 21st Greater Gwinnett Group meeting is all about YOU and we'd like to help you with your resolution to get more actively involved in a fulfilling Sierra Club action. We will have leaders from the Georgia Chapter and your Gwinnett Group presenting the active Sierra Club campaigns in Georgia with an emphasis on Water Issues, Improved Transit Options, and Clean Energy Alternatives. It's time to get Green and Clean and have some fun with your local Sierra Club in Gwinnett.

Feb 18, 2010
Legislative Round-up – What’s Really Going On. GA group chapter Lobbyist Neill Herring and Legislative and Chapter Chair Mark Woodall give us the low down on what is going on in the Georgia Legislative session. Learn how you can be involved as a citizen lobbyist. There are serious challenges facing the Legislature and the most pressing revolve around money, or the lack of money.

Mar 18, 2010
Rex Schuder on Gwinnett’s Award Winning Parks and New Passive Parks
Rex Schuder from Gwinnett Parks Department provides an in depth perspective on Gwinnett’s award winning park system with information on new passive parks.

Apr 15, 2010
Steve Willis on Alternative Energy Solutions for Georgia
Is more drilling for oil the answer? Learn about alternative energy solutions in Georgia such as wind, as Steve Willis, alternative energy expert from the Sierra Savannah Chapter joins us.

May 20, 2010
Joel Hitt on native plants and organic gardening
It’s the season to play in the dirt. Joel Hitt, Georgia Master Gardener, will speak to the group about native plants and organic gardening.

Jun
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Dec
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2009 Meetings

Jan 15, 2009
Adopt-a-Stream & effects of recreation in water on public health. Join us Thursday, January 15 to learn more about the Adopt-a-Stream program. Dr. Michael Beach, with the Centers for Disease Control and our Adopt-a-Stream leader, will be leading the discussion. Dr. Beach (just call him "Michael") is highly respected nationally and internationally for his research regarding the effects of recreation in water on public health. We are very fortunate to have someone of his caliber and dedication leading our efforts to learn about stream health and how it can impact our health.

Feb 19, 2009
Neill Herring and Mark Woodall will be presenting the Annual Legislative Roundup - Leading Georgia into a Sustainable Future. Come hear lobbyist Neill Herring and Legislative Chair Mark Woodall as they discuss what is going on in the Georgia Legislative session. Learn how you can be involved as a citizen lobbyist. There are serious challenges facing the Legislature and the most pressing revolve around money, or the lack of money. The state is facing a $2.5 billion shortfall.

Mar 19, 2009
The March meeting of the Greater Gwinnett Group of the Sierra Club will host the State of Georgia Department of Consumer Affairs, who will discuss what the state and the private sector is doing to ensure only what is necessary goes into Georgia’s landfills.

Apr 16, 2009
Audubon Society - A presentation by the Audubon Society on the Birds of Georgia and their songs. Come and sing along or just listen and enjoy learning about the incredible variety of Georgia’s birds.

May 21, 2009
Southern Alliance for Clean Enetergy to give a presentation on alternate energy in Georgia. a discussion on renewable energy. Mary Carr, Renewable Energy Coordinator with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, will speak about Plant Vogtle and Plant Washington and the coal fired power plant proposal and then focus her presentation on energy alternatives- energy efficiency, solar, wind, etc., and how folks can get involved.

Jun 18, 2009
Sierra Club Annual Picnic

Jul 16, 2009
Geothermal Energy Solutions -- Kenny Libby of Geothermal Energy Solutions will discuss the benefits of Geothermal energy and the stimulus plan tax credits for alternative energy solutions.

Aug 20, 2009
Jerry Hightower, NPS Ranger -- Have you seen "Survivor Man"? Learn from Jerry how you can survive by dining in the marsh or along the banks of our own Chattahoochee.

Sep 17, 2009
Art Sheldon, resident expert on transportation issues. He will provide updates on transportation challenges and programs in Gwinnett and Georgia. Learn more about how you can get involved to improve transportation in Gwinnett.

Oct 15, 2009
Connie Wiggins - Executive Director of Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful will provide us with an update of the things they are doing with a new recycling facility and a reorganized structure to make Gwinnett a clean and green place to live.

Nov 19, 2009
TBD

Dec 10, 2009
Holiday Party

2008 Meetings

Dec 18
Thurs 7:00pm, Greater Gwinnett Group General Meeting.

Nov 20
Thurs 7:00pm, Greater Gwinnett Group General Meeting.

Oct 18
Sat, Jackson Creek Stream Cleanup near Lilburn. For more info, please contact Brian Sterner at (770) 904-3500 or by email brian.sterner@gwinnettcounty.com

Oct 16
Thurs 7:00pm, Greater Gwinnett Group General Meeting.

Oct 11
Sat, Ivy Creek Stream Cleanup near Buford. For more info, please contact Brian Sterner at (770) 904-3500 or by email brian.sterner@gwinnettcounty.com

Sep 18
Thurs 7:00pm, Greater Gwinnett Group General Meeting. Topic: Citizens for Progressive Transit. Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit will discuss transportation issues, challenges and opportunities for Gwinnett. Come learn about some exciting proposed options to our current transportation mess.

Sept 13
Sat 9am-1pm, Chemical Monitoring Workshop at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center. www.gwinnettehc.com

Aug 21
Topic: Dr. Katy Hinman, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, will address the group about this interfaith ministry devoted to deepening the connection between ecology and faith. Specifically, the IPL campaign is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation.

2007 Meetings

August
Meeting Topic was: Village of Vernazza from the Sentiero Azzuro (Blue Trail). This presentation was about how to spend your vacation both bathing in the Mediterranean and hiking at surrounding hilltops. Cinque Terre is one of the youngest national parks in Liguria region of eastern Italy . With its five idyllic port villages perched over the sea it offers plenty of hiking opportunities. One of the best ways to see the Cinque Terre villages is to hike the many trails that join them. Whether one takes Blue Trail (low route) or Red Trail (high route) it will never be too far from the villages, vineyards and olive gardens around them.

June
Meeting Topic was: Backpacking and Hiking in New Zealand. Bob Springfield presented pictures and commentary on his recent outdoor adventures in New Zealand. New Zealand has some of the world's most beautiful terrain, including glaciers, alpine mountains, volcanoes, rainforest and beaches. Bob and his wife, Jane, saw all of this and more while hiking and backpacking four of New Zealand's greatest trails. Topics included the trails, cities and New Zealand's efforts to protect its bird population.

May 19
Meeting Topic was: The Future of Transit in Gwinnett. Speaker was Art Sheldon, a member of the Gwinnett Transit Board, and member of the Sierra Club Sustainable Communities Committee. Art has been involved in transit issues in Gwinnett for a number of years, and brought us up to date on the state of transit issues in Gwinnett, what the future could hold and how YOU can make a difference in the future of Gwinnett. (Hint: We're Waiting on the Train)

Apr 21
Meeting Topic was: Spring Wildflower Hike at Panola Mountain State Park. We joined Park Rangers on a guided tour at Panola Mountain State Park. We saw the unique wildflowers that grow on Georgia's granite outcrops. The scarlet red Diamorpha, the delicate sandwort, and the state endangered granite stonecrop and many other wildflowers were in bloom. The hike was rated 3.5-S-5.

Apr 19
Meeting Topic was: Cool Cities

Mar 15
Meeting Topic was: Native Plants/Organic Gardening

Feb 15
Meeting: Topic was: "Under the Gold Dome". Neil Herring and Mark Woodall gave us an update on the issues in this year's legislative session.

Jan 18
Hiking in Nepal. Jacob Mathew spoke about his recent hiking adventure in Nepal. He had beautiful pictures and fascinating stories of mountain peaks and village inns, hiring porters, trail access, and more. Jacob Mathew is a long-time Outings leader of the Sierra Club and an experienced back-packer.

2006 Meetings

Dec 21
Holiday Social

Dec 10
Family-Friendly Hike led by Mirza

Nov 16
Meeting: The topic was Gwinnett Community Improvement District

Nov 18
NovemberFest / Toy Drive & Gwinnett Sierra Club Social

Oct 19
We received county updates from Commissioners Mike Beaudreau and Lorraine Green.

Sep 21
Our speaker was Patty Durand, the Georgia Chapter Director. Patty gave us information about the Clean Air Act and the Cool Cities Campaign.

Aug 17
Meeting: Our speaker was Frank Stephens, the director of the newly organized Water Resources Department. For more info on this deptartment, go to www.co.gwinnett.ga.us, click on Departments, click on Water Resources. From there you can get lots of information on the department, on stormwater and the county's mitigation efforts, etc.

July 20
Meeting Topic: National Outings.

July 15
We got together to clean up one of our Gwinnett streams. Gwinnett County Adopt-a-Stream provided trash bags and later picked up the garbage we collected. Afterward, we enjoy some refreshments on Annette's deck nearby.

June 17
The Chapter Wildlands and Wildlife committee met for a service project in the Cooper Creek Wildlife Area of the Chattahoochee National Forest. We participated in trail clean-up and restoration work to help rehab this beautiful area.

June 11
We attended a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" which is a movie about global warming with Al Gore narrating. For more information about the movie go to www.climatecrisis.net.
Web Master's note: This movie received rave reviews from the attendees of the newsletter and web editor training held in San Francisco recently. A group went to see the movie on June 2nd and couldn't stop talking about it the following day.

May 18
Meeting Topic: Protect the planet starting with your neighborhood.

May 6
The Gwinnett Chapter participated in the Snellville Days Parade.

Apr 20
Meeting Topic: Presentation by Randy Golden the principal author of the book "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Atlanta". This was an informative presentation by Randy Golden. The book details 60 of the area’s best trails/hikes with a variety of length and difficulty that allows people from a wide range of age and fitness levels to participate. Randy discussed these hikes in general, and selected some in detail.

Apr 15
The Gwinnett Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Huntington Recreation Club participated in a Stream Clean-up from 11am to 2pm. We met at the Huntington Recreation Club Pool/Tennis Complex at the end of Huntington Way and had easy access to Beaver Ruin Creek and a tributary, which was the focus of our clean-up efforts. We got the opportunity to improve the environment locally, meet and work with other civic-minded individuals in our area, and got some exercise and fresh air on a lovely spring day!

Mar 16
Meeting Topic: Rain Gardens. Rick and Sandy Krause successfully created their own rain garden after attending workshops and doing much research. We viewed a 30-minute video of a PowerPoint presentation given at GJAC by Dr. Rose Mary Seymour of The University of Georgia. Rick and Sandy were on hand for the filming of this video. We saw their creation in the video and had the opportunity to asked them questions.

Feb 18
Marti Gras Party at Annette's were we enjoyed some King Cake, New Orleans style!

Feb 16
Meeting Topic: Legislative Update and follow up with Green Day

Jan 19
Meeting Topic: State Forestry Service and follow up with a tree planting.

2005 Meetings

Dec 3
Chapter-Wide Holiday Party in a Log Cabin. The Georgia Chapter's membership gathered for food, fellowship, and festivities. This social was hosted by the environment minded in-laws of Curt Smith in their 200-year-old log cabin in Roswell, GA. We met with fellow Sierrans from other groups and areas in Georgia and got to commune in the vibrations of an old and grand log cabin. The cabin was originally built in Tennessee, by a TN senator (perhaps one of Gore's ancestors?) This Senatorial sized cabin was moved log by log to its present location in central Roswell 25 years ago and updated a bit with a basement and expansions that make this a truly a one of a kind home. There's at least one log that is believed to be American chestnut. There was nothing like the joy of holiday meaning, good folks, candle light and in an inviting and warm wood home.

Dec 15
Meeting: Holiday Potluck Dinner

Nov 17
Meeting Topic: Georgia State Forest Service

Oct 20
Meeting Topic: Daniel Quinn, on Ishmael

Oct 8
Tabling Event: Lilburn Daze

Sep 15
Meeting Topic: Brian Thomas spoke on "Archaelogy in Gwinnett"

Aug 18
Meeting Topic: Xeriscaping, County Extension Service, at Gwinnett County Justice & Administration Center. This presentation was filmed and later broadcast on the Gwinnett County Public cable channel.

Jul 21
Meeting Topic: Social Investing

Jul 4
Tabling Event: Gwinnett Glows

Jun 16
Meeting Topic: Backyard Wildlife Habitats, GA Wildlife Fed, Amanda Kail

May 19
Meeting Topic: County Tree Ordinance (TPO), Tree Advisory Committee

Apr 21
Meeting Topic: John Muir's Birthday Bash potluck dinner at 6:00, followed by meeting at 7:30, Panel discussion of the Gwinnett Conservation Subdivision Overlay rules and regs.John Muir's Birthday Bash potluck dinner followed by meeting. Panel discussion of the Gwinnett Conservation Subdivision Overlay rules and regs.

Mar 18
Chapter-wide social at Mall of Georgia, Imax show, "Aliens of the Deep"

Mar 17
Meeting Topic: Georgia's Native Wildflowers