It will be fun for all ages on August 26 on the Snellville Town Green when Mazzawi Family Dentistry celebrates 50 years of dentistry in Snellville. From 3 pm to 5 pm the public and especially current and former patients and former staff are invited to come and enjoy the celebration as they show their appreciation for their patients and the late Dr. Hugh and Dr. Anne Mazzawi.
Foggy Bottom Barbecue will satisfy the taste buds as attendees also enjoy acoustic music provided by local musician Steve Schuler. The younger set are sure to delight in a kids’ magician, bouncy houses, games and snow cones provided by the Snellville Lions Club, which also will be handing out funnel cakes as fast as they can make them.
Drs Anne and Hugh Mazzawi
The celebration is all about the legacy that Dr. Hugh and Dr. Anne left for their five children and nephew who practice dentistry there today.
Mazzawi Dentistry came to Snellville in 1967, but the family origin really goes back to 1945 when Stella Cown, a young war bride from England stepped off a train at the Lawrenceville Depot with her babe in arms, the future Dr. Anne Cown Mazzawi.
Cown had met Hoyt Cown on a blind date in Bassingbourne, England where he was serving in the US Air Force. After a short courtship, they married. Sometime later, as the war came to an end, Hoyt Cown got his orders to be shipped back to America and his hometown of Grayson.
The Mazzawi Family 1983. Drs Anne and Hugh with daughter Megan. Seated on floor (L) Matt, (R) Miles, with Anne – Marty, back (L) Michael and (R) Mark“Mom was pregnant with me and couldn’t travel, so she and I came to the US on a hospital ship when I was four months old,” Dr. Anne said. “We entered through Ellis Island then took a train to Lawrenceville where we were met by my dad and several members of his family.”
The Cowns made their home in Grayson where Dr. Anne was raised. After college, she went to Emory University to study dentistry, and it was there that she met her future husband, Hugh Mazzawi.
“Hugh was raised in Miami and graduated from the University of Miami, but he loved being in a small town and since I had two years left and was commuting and there wasn’t a dentist in Snellville we decided to set up our practice there,” Dr. Anne recalled.
They moved to Grayson and later after Dr. Anne came into the practice moved to Nob Hill in Snellville.“Hugh’s dad was so concerned that we couldn’t make a living here,” Dr. Anne laughed. “When he came to visit he counted the cars that came by (on Highway 78) to see if there were enough people that might be patients.”
But the practice thrived, and as the years went on, they added to the original space in Snellville Plaza several times. The Mazzawi’s cared deeply for their patients, and if someone needed dental work and couldn’t afford it, they would “trade out” services.
“Many times I came home after a long day to find a bushel of corn or beans at the front door,” Dr. Anne said. Sometimes it was a cake or a deer. “I didn’t know how to cook venison, so that went to the Grayson House (a local restaurant),” she recalled.
Babies came quickly and often to the Mazzawi’s with Michael, Mark, Matt, Marty and Miles each being born within one or two years of each other.
Finally, three and a half years after Dr. Marty was born the girl, they were hoping for finally came when Jennifer Megan was born.
As soon as they were old enough, the boys and later Dr. Megan spent many evening hours in the office cleaning and helping their parents get everything ready for patients the next day.
Sadly, Michael Mazzawi, who planned to become a medical doctor, lost his life in an automobile accident in Nevada the summer before his third year in medical school.
As each of the boys and Dr. Megan graduated from college at UGA, they headed to the Dental College of Georgia and then to Mazzawi Family Dentistry.
Dr. Miles, however, decided he wanted to study pediatric dentistry and has an office in Canton with his wife, Dr. Anthea Mazzawi. They make appointments in Snellville on Wednesdays.
“It’s hard to believe that Mark, the first to join the practice, has been there for 20 years,” Dr. Anne remarked.
Hugh and Anne retired just before Dr. Megan came into the practice “I didn’t know I was retiring,” Dr. Anne laughed. “We took a couple of months off, and Hugh said he wasn’t going back because he felt our sons needed to be in charge. They wanted to do some different things – things that were more up to date.
“It was a good decision because Hugh and I got to travel. What if we hadn’t done that before he passed away!”
Dr. Darin Wasileski, Dr. Mark Mazzawi, Dr. Matt Mazzawi, Dr. Marty Mazzawi, Dr. Megan MazzawiSnellville was a quiet, sleepy town in 1967 when Drs. Hugh and Anne set up practice in the brand new Snellville Plaza. Now their grown children Dr. Mark, Dr. Matt, Dr. Miles and Dr. Anthea, Dr. Marty, Dr. Megan and nephew Dr. Darin Wasileski have taken the practice to new heights and will continue the legacy begun by Dr. Hugh and Dr. Anne 50 years ago
“My parents had a grand plan that their children would continue their legacy,” said Dr. Marty. “It has come to fruition, and the celebration is to show our appreciation for them and our patients, past and present.”
