Gwinnett County will be 200 years old next year – on December 15, 2018, to be exact. We have organized an advisory committee to start a celebration countdown this December, ending with the big day a year later. We are inviting everyone who lives or works in Gwinnett to participate in some way.
Charlotte J. Nash, Chairman – Gwinnett County Board of Commissioner
A good place to start is the new website for the bicentennial, www.gwinnett200.com. It has a calendar of bicentennial events and a form you can use to register related events. Any event that builds community spirit and celebrates the strengths of Gwinnett County is welcome. The easy, online form prompts you to provide the basic details of your event.
We’ve also started assembling a Story Vault of videotaped recollections of life in Gwinnett as told by people who were here. Some stories are seen through the eyes of a child while other stories, still vivid many years later, speak to the perseverance, determination, and problem-solving of Gwinnett County residents. For newer residents, we want to hear your stories about how you chose Gwinnett. All stories are welcome whether you were born here or moved here last week.
TVgwinnett, our government-access cable channel, is providing the cameras and crew – and even a studio to tape in. All we need is you. We’ll edit the best stories together to make a video portrait of Gwinnett to show at the closing celebration 17 months from now. Information on the website explains how you can volunteer to tell your stories and get them recorded for posterity.
The new website also lists the members of the advisory committee along with photos, resources, and ways to get involved in the celebration.
When Gwinnett County was formed by the state legislature in 1818, they named it for Button Gwinnett, one of three men from Georgia who signed the Declaration of Independence. We have a fascinating history, but everyone who lived through our first century is gone. Now it’s up to each of us to take part in documenting and celebrating our second century and looking ahead with optimism to our third.
Let’s celebrate how far our remarkable community has come and make some memories that they’ll still be talking about a hundred years from now.
