Soque Bulletin - October 14, 2011

SOQUE BULLETIN

October 14, 2011

Our Tour of Sustainable Farms last weekend was a great way to see sustainability in action.

Thanks to our hosts Sid Blalock, Steve Whiteman and Sharon Mauney and to the 25 folks who attended.

For more info on what you can do to support local food see the last entry in this bulletin

1) Soque River Ramble next Saturday October 22nd

2) Support Greenways expansion to Mary Street Park by attending visioning meetings Oct. 17 and 27. Tour at 5pm.

3) Guide to Local Foods in Northeast Georgia

1) Soque River Ramble next Saturday October 22nd

Come on out next weekend and enjoy the fall colors in the gorgeous Goshen Valley and get some exercise while you're at it. There's a 6k run/walk or a 1 mile fun run. You can register online by visiting www.soqueriverramble.com. If you'd like to volunteer e-mail Jean Holmes at jeanholmes@windstream.net. Thanks to Dale and Jean for organizing this great event to benefit the SRWA and the Batesville Fire Dept.

2) Support Greenways expansion to Mary Street Park by attending visioning meetings Oct. 17 and 27. Tour at 5pm.

After several years of enjoying the first Phase of the Clarkesville Greenways, the SRWA, the Clarkesville Greenways INC. and the City of Clarkesville are preparing to apply for our second grant to construct Phase 2 of the Greenway. The proposal calls for the existing trail to extend over into Mary Street Park (the site of the swimming pool, and soccer fields). The grant is due November 30th.

The timing couldn't be better as the City is holding 3 visioning meetings in October and November to get input from the community on what type of park to rebuild. Our understanding is that they have committed up to $100,000 for park improvements. In order for a Greenways expansion to be supported, we need all the community members that enjoy the Greenway to come to at least one of these meetings and offer your support.

The meetings will be at City Hall at 6pm on Oct. 17, Oct. 27 and Nov. 16. The SRWA will host a Mary Street Park walk at 5pm on each of those nights prior to the meetings. You can meet us for this walk in the parking area in front of the swimming pool. E-mail soque@windstream.net if you think you can attend. This is a great opportunity to show your support for the Greenway and will also help ensure that Phase 2 is well planned. Here's a quick map of what the proposed expansion could look like.

3) Guide to Local Foods in Northeast Georgia

Looking to improve the nutrition and quality of the foods you eat? Would you also like to help the environment? Would you like more of your dollars to remain in our community? Then you should probably be eating local foods. The availability of local foods is expanding all the time.

Please help us spread the word that Local Food is increasingly available throughout the NE GA region. Here are the options we're currently aware of, starting with our very own market sponsored by SRWA the NE GA Locally Grown. If there are others we're missing please let us know and EAT WELL!

http://northeastgeorgia.locallygrown.net/welcome

Order on Sunday and Monday

Pickups in Clarkesville and Tiger

Wednesdays 5-7 pm

The So Called Farmers Market

Sautee, GA - Saturday Mornings at the Sautee Center

LoganBerry Heritage Farm Market

Cleveland, GA - Saturday Mornings on the Farm - Adair Mill Road

http://loganberryheritagefarm.com/

Simply Homegrown Market

Clayton, GA - Saturday Mornings at Clayton City Hall

http://www.simplyhomegrown.org/

Lake Rabun Hotel

Featured Farmer Dinners every Thursday

and lots of local fresh food all the time

http://www.lakerabunhotel.com/

Justin Ellis

Executive Director

Soque River Watershed Association

706-754-9382

Soque Bulletin - October 5th, 2011

SOQUE BULLETIN

October 5th, 2011

SRWA Board Member Brenda Hunt escorts Coach Vince Dooley into the SOQUE ROAST 2011 event.

1) SOQUE ROAST - Fantastic Event

2) Tour of Sustainable Farms - Sunday, October 9th

1) SOQUE ROAST - Fantastic Event

The 2011 SOQUE ROAST featuring Vince Dooley turned out to be a fantastic event. With over 100 attendees the fundraiser netted over $4,000 for the SRWA's programs. With delicious food from Hawg Wild, including Springer Mtn Farm donated chicken and local foods of tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and sweet potatoes from Mtn Earth Farms and LoganBerry Heritage Farms, the food was excellent. Thanks to Yonah Mtn, Habersham Vineyards and Tiger Mtn for donating wine to the event, Doug Henry for donating a keg of Terrapin, and especially Greg Singer and Jeff Ferguson for providing the outstanding locally crafted beers (IPAs, Honeybrown, Heffeweizen, etc.)

Thanks to Carl and Virginia Webb who once again gave a gift of award winning honey to every attendee. WCHM - the voice of Habersham generously provided the sound system for the evening. Bob and Deanna Brookshear loaned us their tents as did Community Bank and Trust. HEMC hooked up our power. Marlan Wilbanks, family and friends once again graciously hosted us on their beautiful property. Thanks to all of our volunteers this year who really made sure the event went smoothly and professionally. And especially Coach Vince Dooley who was a truly special guest and had us laughing out loud about his stories of "Uga" the bulldog passing out when he exited his air-conditioned dog house on game day.

More photos of the event will be posted to our FACEBOOK page.

Huge Thanks to our 2011 Auction Donors

Marty and Glad Simmons

John and Nancy Kollock

Turner Enterprises

Chief Anonymous

Wenn's Once Upon A Time, Co.

Randy Moser

Walter and Jeanie Daves

Tiger Mountain Vineyards

Carl and Virginia Webb

Richard and Lynda Averack

Woods Furniture

Marjorie Waters

Karol Martin

Soque Artworks

Becky Sandven

Foothills Chapter Trout Unlimited

Ray Belford

Burton Gallery - Marlene Eck and Jim Richards

Mark of the Potter

Jack Loveless

Steven Patrick

2) Tour of Sustainable Farms - Sunday, October 9th

This Sunday the SRWA and the farmers market we sponsor Northeast Georgia Locally Grown will co-host our 2nd annual Tour of Sustainable Farms. The event is part of the Soque River Watershed Association’s quarterly sustainability tours series. The tour begins at the Clarkesville extension office and will last from 11-4 pm.

On the tour this year are Sharon Mauney's LoganBerry Heritage Farm north of Cleveland, Sid Blalock's Burton Mountain Farms near Lake Burton, and Steve Whiteman's Trillium Farms just outside of Clarkesville. Each of these farms produce an array of delicious, local, and sustainably produced fruits and vegetables, many of which are available through the Locally Grown market at www.northeastgeorgia.locallygrown.net.

Steve Whiteman of Trillium Farms describes how he built and uses his homemade greenhouses

All farms on the tour follow sustainable practices, meaning no chemicals, and a focus on practices that nurture the soil and environment. This year’s tour emphasizes the importance of season extension structures such as greenhouses to increase the availability of local foods during the colder months.

A simple local food lunch will be featured during the tour for a small donation of $8-$10. Lunch will consist of fresh whole corn, cubanelle peppers, pork sausage, sweet potatoes, microgreens and cornbread.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a hat and water. The tour meets at 11 am at the Habersham County Extension office, 555 Monroe Street, behind the courthouse. There is no fee for the tour.

To confirm a spot for lunch call 706-754-9382, or e-mail soque@windstream.net.

Justin Ellis

Executive Director

Soque River Watershed Association

706-754-9382