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LXXVII—NUMBER 66
Working the
By Molly Read
Stan Writer
They are the people who turn time upside down,
who have dinner in the morning and breakfast in the
afternoon. They dream in the day, and sometimes
during the night. They’re even willing to pay
convenience store prices for a pound bag of coffee.
They are the nightshift.
At 1 a.m. on any given weeknight in Forsyth
County, 230 white-aproned employees are processing
and packing chickens at the Tyson’s plant.
Ambulance drivers are trying to catch a few winks
between runs. A couple of eggs over easy are on the
grill at the Huddle House and the jailer stuck with the
graveyard shift is either escorting a wobbly-legged
D.U.I. case to the drunk tank or double-checking the
scene in the high security cells.
The aisles in the all-night grocery stores are
barricaded with cardboard boxes full of stock that
will be on the shelves by the break of dawn. Stock
boys equipped with Exacto knives and pricing guns
go to work, while the owner and oven man of Bobbies
Bakery catches the last couple of hours of his short,
sound sleep.
“They say people on the night shift are weird, but
that’s not true,” says Becky Moffett, a scale room
employee at Tyson’s. She gets on the line about the
same time the regular work force is trying to get
home in rush hour traffic. Her husband shares the
same shift. They work together, leave together, and
pick up their two kids at the sitter’s around 3 a.m., on
their way home. The hours don’t seem to be too
disagreeable to her. “I guess I’ve always been a
night person,” she says.
“I don’t like the day shift,” says evening time
chicken grader Sarah Nichols. “The people are
friendlier on the night shift. The bosses and the line
leaders are a lot nicer.”
“And it’s a lot quieter,” adds Randall Davidson, a
nurse on duty during owl hours at Tyson’s.
Sometimes it is quiet, sometimes hectic in the
trailer behind the hospital where emergency medical
workers stay during their 24-hour shifts. “We sleep
whenever we get a chance,” E.M.T. Hal Gentry
says. He and four other midnight emergency
specialists kick back in the trailer’s make-shift
kitchen, equipped with a Mr. Coffee that’s brewed
more cups than they’d care to count. Catty-comer
from the kitchen cabinets is a desk clutteyd with j
See NIGHTSHIFy page 6A .
Shopping is at center of future developments
Shopping centers planned around county
By Chuck Thompson
News editor
Like a chain of dormant volcanoes stretching across
south-central Forsyth County, they are mountains of
activity just waiting to erupt.
Time, growth and the impact of surrounding devel
opments will all play a role in bringing them to life.
And, when they start emerging from the ground, they
will be constant reminders that our county is becoming
less rural every day.
In fact, it will be the transition from rural to urban that
makes these proposed shopping centers a reality.
One of the largest tracts already rezoned for shopping
facilities consists of 22.5 acres on Ga. 20 west of down
town Cumming.
There, Penta International plans to create the “major
shopping and b’ siness center in the west part of the
city,’’ according to company president Barry Weaver.
The center wi'i not only serve west Forsyth County, but
east Cherokee ( eunty all the way to Canton.
Weaver said Penta was approached about selling the
tract to an “established Atlanta developer specializing in
rural shopping centers,” who also had a preliminary
commitment from an anchor store.
Instead, Penta decided to sell an interest in the
property to a “well-established investment-development
group.” The deal was expected to close Friday.
Like Penta, the group has “made a long-term commit
ment to developing in Forsyth County,” Weaver said,
noting that both parties are concerned about quality.
Plans for the 22.5 acres involve a “village concept”
that Weaver said will be “superior to anything that exists
in the county.”
“Current land plans,” he added, “call for a devel
opment that will be similar to Dunwoody Village, with
some architectural modifications.”
Tenants planned for the shopping area include a major
food anchor, a major drug store and a major multi
theater chain with perhaps three theaters.
Sites in the development will range from .7 to 1.5 acre.
Weaver said there’s also room for 45,000 square feet of
offices.
A master plan for the development should be com
pleted by Jan. 1 and Weaver is hoping to break ground on
the first phase probably about 50,000 square feet in
the late spring or early summer of 1967.
BASKETBALL BOSS
Steve Barnes is
new cage coach
for FCHS Bulldogs
Page IB
Forsvth CountvNew s
NIGHTSHIFT
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 1986—CUMMING, GA. 30130—72 PAGES 3 SECTIONS
I *
At the Huddle House
(above): “I could write a
b00k... but lleuldn’t print
it.” Meanwhile, Hugh
Hyde (right) figures he
leaves Dawson County
earlier than anybody
living there.
In addition to construction, quality in the development
will be reflected in landscaping. Green areas and “major
plantings of trees” are planned.
Weaver said the development will be built in three
phases during a minimum of five years or a maximum of
eight years, depending on the county’s growth.
Already, he said, the 22-acre site is being passed by 10,-
000 vehicles per day on Ga. 20, which has recently been
expanded to four lanes.
Weaver said the site is surrounded by “some of the
most beautiful subdivisions in the county,” and is the
“single most viable site (for a shopping center) in west
Forsyth.”
Predicting explosive growth in the county, he said a lot
of large tracts are now in the hands of “experienced
development groups” that are waiting to move.
The “spark” that will touch of this chain of devel
opment, Weaver said, is the announcement of a new
shopping mall at Ga. 400 and Haynes Bridge Road.
Five years from now, he added, Forsyth County will be
“on fire” with development.
About one mile south of Penta International’s proposed
office-shopping center, another shopping facility is
planned by Gamer, Johnston and Mills.
Bob Johnston, spokesman for the group, said dis
cussions have taken place with three major grocery store
chains and a couple of drug stores.
Four other local tenants, he said, have expressed an
interest in the proposed development, to be located on
15.7 acres across from Cumming Printing and Office
Supply.
Kelly Mill Creek runs through the property and
Johnston said plans are to incorporate it into the devel
opment.
Rather than installing a pipe for the creek to flow
through, plans are to leave it open and “dress it up,” so
that it will be a natural, attractive feature on the site.
The creek will probably have an influence on the name
given to the development, Johnston said.
A restaurant with outdoor seating near the creek has
also been considered for the site.
Buildings in the development will feature a “lot of
archways” and colors such as dark green and burgundy,
which are appearing in a lot of new buildings.
Johnston said plans are to keep the building site “as
See CENTERS, page 2A
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FOREIGN AIDE
Teaching at
Bryant-Glanzman
has Egyptian flavor
Page ISA
Map shows sites being considered for shopping center constructions
County planners
give approval
to airport plan
By Chuck Thompson
News editor
Unlike some other government bod
ies, the planning commission usually
doesn’t have to worry about a lack of
public participation, and Tuesday
night was no exception.
With a proposed airport and 15
rezonings on the agenda, the largest
meeting room in the courthouse was
wall-to-wall with people most of
whom were concerned with the air
port request, which eventualy earned
a recommendation of approval from
the commission.
Individuals supporting the airport
wore bright yellow caps with the
name, “Suddeth Air Park,” on the
front.
Lamar Suddeth, who is seeking a
permit to operate the airport, was
represented at the meeting by attor
ney Elliott Baker.
Noting that Suddeth has $169,000
invested in the proposed airport site,
Baker said the value of the land
would increase to more than $1 mil
lion if an airport was placed there.
The site consists of 41.58 acres on
Hurt Bridge Road in northwest For
syth County.
He said the airport would “en
hance” the prices of adjoining prop
erties and probably increase traffic
in the area by an amount less than
that generated by 10 houses.
Baker said airplanes on the site
would be “taxable and require no
county services,” and that the site is
ideal for an airport because it is
located behind, Sawnee Mountain,
which “acts as a wind buffer.”
The proposed airport would be a
day-use facility with accommoda
tions for 35 single- and double-engine
planes.
Members of the planning commis
sion were presented with a petition
signed by 400 to 500 people favoring
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the airport.
A petition with 2,184 signatures was
submitted in opposition to the facility.
Residents seeking denial of the
airport permit expressed concern
about noise and the possibility of
airport expansion in the future.
They also said that planes taking
off from the airport would be flying
over new homes under construction.
One resident told planners that 80
percent of airplane accidents cccur
within a one- to two-mile radius of
airports.
A motion was made by Tom Miller
and seconded by Henry Willard to
send the airport use permit to the
board of commissioners with a rec
ommendation of denial. Jack Hylton
also voted in favor of the motion.
Jim Ponder, Talmadge Bolton and
Ralph True voted against the motion,
creating a 3-3 deadlock.
The deciding vote was cast by Plan
ning Commission Chairman Dennis
Martin, who sided with Ponder, Bol
ton and True.
The four then approved a motion to
recommend the airport permit for
approval with the following condi
tions:
(1 1 That the airport be for day use
only;
(2) That flying lessons and a sky
diving clubs both of which would
generate more traffic be prohib
ited at the airport; and
(3) That Suddeth, or the developer
of the airport, provide equipment for
dealing with any airplane fires.
Miller, Willard and Hylton voted
against the motion.
In other business Tuesday, plan
ners recommended approval of nine
rezonings:
• William H. Mock, Jr., HB to CBD,
1.71 acre on Ga. 20 near the intersec
tion of Hyde Road, for a real estate
office.
See AIRPORT, page 2A
35 CENTS