Politics & Government

Suwanee Council Honors Longtime Gwinnett Resident

Ann Parsons Odum has donated a painting of Pierce's Corner. Also, she recently moved a longtime family business to Suwanee.

Her family business is new to Suwanee, but the family name is not new to Gwinnett.

Ann Parsons Odum, whose family has owned a business in Gwinnett for generations, was honored Tuesday (November 27) by the Suwanee City Council.

-- What are your memories of Parson's Gifts & Cards in Gwinnett? Have you shopped at the new location? Tell us in the comments below.

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The honor was for some of Odum's artwork, which commemorates a strong piece of Suwanee history. She donated to the city her painting of the Pierce's Corner building on Main Street in Old Town. The painting, which Odum said was done in 1995, will be displayed at City Hall.

Odum noted Tuesday that her family began a general store in Bethesda, Ga., and moved it to Duluth in 1925.

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It became a cards and gifts store in 1987, and the family moved it to Suwanee in August 2012.

New ownership of its location in Duluth prompted the move. Customers in Duluth were "upset," Odum noted Tuesday. "We were lucky to find somewhere that was a good spot."

The Suwanee location is in the same center as Fresh Market, a development that also includes Cinco restaurant.

Odum's selection of Pierce's Corner -- the painting actually is entitled "Pierce's Antiques" -- came from a personal touch.

"I knew George Pierce," she recalled. "I bought some (Lake Lanier) property from (Pierce)."

The Pierce's Corner building is targeted for redevelopment. Suwanee officials have a lease-purchase deal with The Deming Group of Norcross that would allow a restaurant and a so-called business incubator in the building, which dates to 1910.

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