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Susan Larson

Stories by Susan

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LARSON: Teacher offers prayer's chance that God might exist

Reflecting on a productive day in the classroom and looking ahead to National Day of Prayer on Thursday.

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LARSON: A hole lot of fun happening in Gwinnett parks

Always fun to have customized bean bags when playing a new game.

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LARSON: Trickum teacher puts heart and sole into Holocaust awareness

Drawing from his father's experience, Alan "Woody" Morawiec conducts a yearly shoe drive to help educate his students about the atrocities.

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LARSON: You can have it all, if you know where to look

Nakia Williams is proof that you don't have to have a big corporate job to have "it all." She's found all she needs, and all her customers need, at her store SOJE Emporium in Lawrenceville.

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LARSON: Celebrating a centennial of Girl Scouting

As the Girl Scouts prepare to celebrat their 100th anniversary, I remember some great times being, and writing about, Scouts.

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LARSON: Smart moves lead to safety and security

SafetySmart in Lilburn has a mission to promote safety, community inolvement and neighborhood unity. A smart pursuit, indeed.

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LARSON: Nothing tops a good excuse

It's OK to say no, if you have a good one. Like climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro, perhaps.

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LARSON: Girl Scouts get community together for centennial celebration

Duluth Historical Society Museum to host open house.

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LARSON: At age 96, senior bowls over community with time and talent

Louis Howington bowls every Monday and even organizes her league.

LARSON: Cyberspace swapping keeps books in circulation

PaperBackSwap, an Internet book swapping club, founded in Suwanee.

LARSON: Celebrate a new year all year long

Best to keep looking ahead.

LARSON: Resolving to book time for reading

This is one resolution I'll be glad to keep.

LARSON: Getting to the meat of Christmas symbolism

Remembering Christmas traditions, from snake ornaments to a meat cleaver.

LARSON: Penguin predicament makes interesting yarn

One of many worthy causes this holiday season.

LARSON: Gwinnett library offers gift of Christmas presence

Dedicating book to, or buying them from, local library makes for a great gift.

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LARSON: Clogging goes uptown with City Center Dance

Pursuit is a "melting pot" of dancing.

LARSON: Gwinnett honors veterans in many special ways

Sentinels of Freedom and Task Force Patriot leading the way.

LARSON: Blondes have more fun if they know how

Colored tresses don't bring same baggage as they used to.

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LARSON: Journalist Rita Cosby shares best story of her life

TV journalist will discuss her book, life at fundraiser.

LARSON: Good cooking is all in the chemistry

It's a funny thing how memories are triggered.

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LARSON: Viking spirit a true contribution to community

A local club is recognizing the Viking spirit.

LARSON: Love of labor yields labor of love

Celebrating Labor Day with workers who love their jobs.

LARSON: I need answers to the mysteries of life

The longer I live, the longer my list of things I just don't understand. For example, when I'm driving along about five miles over the speed limit and there's not a car behind me for 10 miles down the road, why does someone coming off a side street whip out

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LARSON: Readers share memories of Gwinnett before growth

As usual, I can depend on my readers to come through with stories more interesting than my own. Two weeks ago, when I asked readers to share their Gwinnett memories, natives and newcomers alike had stories to share.

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LARSON: Helping your library is not just for Dummies

I felt honored to be included in the celebration of the arrival of the more than 1,600 "Dummies" books the Gwinnett County Public Library won in a nationwide contest.

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LARSON: Canoe enthusiast brings water safety to mainstream

For David Bolton, when it came to canoeing, one thing just seemed to flow into another.

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LARSON: Friend knows how to live every day to the fullest

I love field trips. When my kids were in school I was always the first to volunteer to chaperone. Friends still tease me about the way I used to pile all the kids in the cul-de-sac into my mini-van and haul them off on some local adventure.

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LARSON: Readers' responses are always a good read

It's always fun writing a mailbag column where I get to share what my readers have to say. The last few weeks have brought in some of the best.

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LARSON: Urban Baboon promotes philosophy of fitness

The Urban Baboon did not wander out of the jungle. The Urban Baboon does not amble along the streets of our cities. Actually, the Urban Baboon doesn't even exist except as the name of a website.

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LARSON: Learn about what's happening in classical style

My husband loves reading the free classics on his Kindle. But what he seems to enjoy the most is reading passages to me from books like "Crime and Punishment," written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1866 that sound like they could have been posted on the Internet yesterday.

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LARSON: To keep money in the community, just do the math

I love the math. I love math, period, but the philosophy behind the 3/50 Project really gets me excited. The 3/50 Project, whose mission is to "save the brick and mortar our nation is built on," is simply one way to keep money in the local community.

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LARSON: Gwinnett Museum makes every day Memorial Day

For Paul Pickard, every day is Memorial Day. As Director of the Veterans Memorial Museum at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse, Pickard who is retired from the Air Force, is one of about 20 volunteers who keep our military history alive.

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LARSON: Library books community for summer reading

Today is the day. The kickoff for the 2011 Summer Reading Program at the Gwinnett library. Every library in the county is signing kids up for their big summer reading event. (If you can’t make it to the party, you can sign up online at www.gwinnettpl.org).

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LARSON: Cub Scout leader helps community to be prepared

Be prepared. Those two words have always been ingrained in Shoji Ketchem's thinking. Maybe because he grew up in a military family and always had to be prepared to move. Or maybe they were reinforced by the Gulf War.

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LARSON: The foundation of this story is in the makeup

My mother always warned me -- and yours probably did, too -- to never leave the house without clean underwear because you never know when you might get in a wreck and wind up in a hospital.

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LARSON: Gwinnett Toastmasters has something big to talk about

Gwinnett Toastmasters really have something to talk about. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. They always have something to talk about. That’s why they join Toastmasters, so they can get up in front of an audience to talk.

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LARSON: Woman walking in faith wants community to ‘Bloom’

Some people might think Jeff Foxworthy is a tough act to follow, but for Bobbi Pack, he just set the stage for the whole community to get in on the act.

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LARSON: Woman walking in faith wants community to 'Bloom'

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.

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LARSON: Library looking for readers to make just one smart move

This column is not for dummies. Actually, I'd like to think none of my columns are, but this one in particular is aimed at highly intelligent people (which all my readers happen to be) who are willing to lift a finger to help the Gwinnett County Public Library acquire 1,600 new books absolutely free.

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LARSON: For all-around bargains, don't miss the bus

Shop 'til you drop. For me, that means about 15 minutes. Unless, of course, I'm going along for the ride on one of Melissa Baxter's Back by Popular Demand bus tours.

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LARSON: Using the Internet to check facts reveals deficit in memory bank

For what it’s worth, I’ve been blessed with this amazing long-term memory. I can’t remember where I put my glasses, but I can recall incidents as far back as when I was 18 months old, as verified with shock by my mother.

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LARSON: Vacation gets me gassed up for getting back home

As you read this, I could be catching up on news with my friend Kathy in Gulfport, Miss., having coffee with friends in Baton Rouge, La., or visiting my brother Bob and his wife in Galveston, Texas. With the price of gas, it sure is nice to have friends to free load off of along the way.

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LARSON: Celebrate the Irish holiday with harps, hawks and hockey

I don’t have a smart phone to keep everyone aware of my whereabouts, so I’ll just have to use my column to let my readers know that next weekend I’ll be vacationing in the Gulf. But while I’m having fun in the sun, I don’t want you to feel like you’ve been left behind. All kinds of cool things will be happening while I’m away.

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LARSON: Gwinnett Library gives customers key to culture

Time was if you heard any storytelling at the library, it was courtesy of a volunteer mom sitting on the floor with 10 toddlers squeezed in between two overloaded bookshelves. Same goes for art exhibits, which amounted to a bulletin board thrown together with whatever construction paper those same volunteer moms could find in a cardboard box stashed under the checkout desk.

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LARSON: Hare's to a Happy Chinese New Year

Of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac, the rabbit is considered to be one of the most lovable. Maybe that’s why there are so many books about them.

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LARSON: Looking back gives reason to look forward

It’s still 2010 and I already have about a dozen columns lined up for 2011. But before I look to the future, I’d like to take one more look at some of my columns past. Besides, with all pessimism about the economy, I love highlighting how many of “my people,” as I think of them, have flourished.

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LARSON: Book a luncheon with Norcross Woman's Club

American Education Week has come and gone. This week, observed since 1921, spotlights the importance of community support for public education. And a lot of programs like Principal for a Day which gave more than 120 county leaders a chance to see how they can help support public education, took place around the county.

LARSON: Aristeacrats makes tea a total delight

Next to water, tea is the second-most widely consumed beverage in the world.

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LARSON: Time to reform our thinking about stereotypes

For most people, today is Halloween. But for Lutherans, it's Reformation Day, the biggest day of the year.

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LARSON: Cemetery tour brings new Norcross partnership to life

Baseball, bootleggers, millionaires and more. Those are just a few topics of Norcross history you can learn about on the inaugural city cemetery tour at the Historic Norcross Harvest Festival next Saturday.