SOQUE BULLETIN
May 1st, 2012
Plan Your Summer Now around Two Events we expect to be 2 of the best the SRWA has ever Hosted.
For detailed information on either event just click on the POSTER
1) SOQUE RIVER FESTIVAL - Saturday - June 16th - "First Ever" Paddle and Play on the Soque!
2) Boats needed for FESTIVAL
3) GEORGIA MOUNTAINS FARM TOUR - June 30th - July 1st - Choose from nearly 20 sustainable farms
4) Jackson Bridge Clean-Up - Saturday, July 7th
1) SOQUE RIVER FESTIVAL - Saturday - June 16th - "First Ever" Paddle and Play on the Soque!
Nothing makes the heat of Summer more enjoyable than a day getting wet and relaxed on your favorite River! That was our thinking when we started planning what could be the most exciting event of the SRWA's 14 year history …..the "FIRST EVER" Soque River Festival! Mark your calendars, call your friends and plan on a great day on Saturday, June 16th from 10am-3pm. The brand new festival is centered around a 2-mile paddle trip on the Soque River beginning just north of Clarkesville at Farm Hill and ending at Chatterton Place, a beautiful bottomland farm just downstream of Pitts Park. The float is open to individuals and families for just $10 per person. Registration for the float is open now and is limited to a total of 150 boaters for the day.
To make it easy for all to come….we're providing the boats (all of which are being loaned by local folks donating use of their boat for the day), we're providing the shuttle, life jackets, paddles, paddling lesson, and a guide. All you have to bring is $10 and a exuberant enthusiasm to be out on the water. The paddle trip will last about one hour and is rated for “beginners” so even those with little to no experience are encouraged to attend. Kids of all ages are welcome (though child size life-jackets must be provided for small children).
In addition to the PADDLE / FLOAT the FESTIVAL will feature many other fun activities for the whole family:
· Bike Tour of the Proposed Greenway - register for the 11am free 6 mile tour of the entire proposed Greenway.
· Lunch featuring Fish or Chicken Tacos and locally grown fruits and veggies (Lunches will be sold on-site)
· Fresh Lemonade
· Live Acoustic Music
· Kids Zone featuring - outdoor games, face painting, rainbarrel painting, a place to splash in the river, and educational stream talk and water bug hunt.
· Attendees are encouraged to bring folding chairs or blankets to enjoy the streamside atmosphere for the day.
To register for the paddle or bike ride you can direct link to our registration forms by clicking the logo.
Registration can also be found from the main page of our website, www.soque.org. Or you can drop by the office located on the Square above Natalie Jane’s. The other Festival activities (including the Bike Tour) are free and open to the public and no registration is required. The Festival site will be located at Chatterton Place at the end of LaPrade Street, with parking at the County Courthouse. The Festival is proudly sponsored by Springer Mountain Farms, Certus Bank, Matt Mixon and State Farm Insurance, Wildwood Outfitters, and Habersham Bicycles. Additional support from Garden for Wellness, and Chase Sanitation. For information about sponsorship, volunteering for the event, or general questions call 706-754-9382.
2) Boats needed for FESTIVAL
"Hey, Where's my Paddle?"
If you have canoes, kayaks and paddles that you'd be willing to loan for use during the festival we're still trying to scrounge up a small handful. For 150 people on the river, we only need 30 boats and we already have 24. If demand is high and we wanted to exceed 150 boaters, it would be great to have 40 total boats. All that's needed is an ability for boat loaners to drop off their boats on the Friday before the event and pick them up on Saturday after the event or Sunday am. No aluminum boats please. If your interested in loaning your boat or boats, the boat loan form is on the SRWA website or can be accessed HERE. Fill it out, save it to your computer under a new name and then e-mail it back to us. We'll immediately give your boat a name and throw it into our rotation schedule, and yes, you can sign up to use your own boat during the tour.
3) GEORGIA MOUNTAINS FARM TOUR - June 30th - July 1st - Choose from nearly 20 sustainable farms
If Sustainable Local Food and Farms have piqued your interest recently then 2012 is going to be a good year for you. There's a brand new farmers market starting in Clarkesville (contact Ben Dockins for details), the NE Georgia Locally Grown Market is off to a bustling start, and there's more farms growing more food than ever before in the local area.
Perhaps most exciting has been the increased collaboration amongst local farmers to exchange information, visit each others farms, and collaborate on projects. And that's what has led to this years GEORGIA MOUNTAINS FARM TOUR, a weekend event featuring 18 different farms or food venues, demonstrating to the public that North Georgia is rapidly building a vibrant and organized local food scene. The TOUR to be held June 30th - July 1st features small farms that sell sustainable foods locally. After two very succesful Tour of Sustainable Farms events, the SRWA has helped local farmers convene this much larger, more ambitious regional event. And we're pretty excited about it.
The way it works is you gather a group of friends and buy one WEEKEND PASS for all of you to visit all farms, all weekend for an entire carload of people. As many people as can fit in your car can come for one price. WEEKEND PASSES ARE $30 if purchased before June 16th, and $35 the day of the event. You'll also be able to purchase passes beginning next Wednesday, June 9th on the www.soque.org website, at SRWA offices, through Locally Grown, at Simply Homegrown in Clayton, at the Root Cellar in Clayton, and at Mountain Fresh Creamery in Clermont. The weekend passes will be these sharp little bumper stickers currently being printed for us (by our friends at North GA Label). If you'd like to flip through the detailed guide to the Tour just click on the Bumber Sticker below.
4) Jackson Bridge Clean-Up - Saturday, July 7th
It's been quite some time since the SRWA has led an excursion to Jackson Bridge. For those of you who don't know, Jackson Bridge marks the beginning of a one-mile public stretch of the Soque River that's is an excellent fishing location and one of the prettiest areas of the whole river. It's also an area that receives a little bit of litter resulting from the heavy foot traffic. If you haven't seen this area before, or would like to see it again, this will be a great opportunity to do a little service for the river while taking in it's natural beauty.
We'll meet at 9am, Saturday, July 7th at Old Clarkesville Mill and arrange a few carpools to save on gas.
Let us know if you plan to come. You can e-mail Kimberly at srwa@windstream.net. We might just schedule something else special for that day if conditions are right.
PS - Justin will be travelling out of the country for the first 3 weeks in May. If you have any urgent inquiries during that time please contact Kimberly Brown at srwa@windstream.net or Duncan Hughes at dhughes@northgatech.edu. Thank You!
Justin Ellis
Executive Director
Soque River Watershed Association
706-754-9382
