I've been involved since January of 2017. It was then that I joined as a regular board member. By March the existing treasurer stepped down, and I stepped in to be the treasurer. I was the treasurer until August of 2019. At that point I became the President of the organization. Most of the people on the board have full-time jobs. I’m happy to have the responsibility to be the President. We have one part-time administrative person on the staff. There is no full-time person as an executive director. A big goal would be to hire an executive director to manage the day-to-day of the organization.
We did four walk and talk events last year, and we were planning to do 6 this year. We are going to do a trout release aligned with Trout Unlimited at a pier that we are rebuilding. We’re planning a program for people to hike all the 80 miles of the park and paddle the 48 miles of the park. We have our annual member event each fall. We have an annual river symposium that’s oriented towards other parks and recreation units throughout the stretch of the river. There are many counties/municipalities that are all inter-connected to the park. The river symposium tries to bring many of those entities together.
We try to have events for under-served children as well. It’s great to get the kids out there. It is very enlightening seeing how much fun they have.
The East Palisades is my favorite part of the park. Paddling through that part is the prettiest part of the river. There are some stunning shoals. Hiking along there you get up high above the river, and you get some great views from up there. It’s probably river miles 42-28 that are the best for paddling. I’ve actually paddles all 48 miles of the river in one day. I paddled from Helen to Atlanta in two days when I was younger. I will typically do an 8 mile section in one day. Most of the river has some current. There’s even a stretch with some Class 1 and Class 2 rapids.
We fund volunteer events within the park throughout the year. There’s always the option to donate to improvements within the park. Become a volunteer within the park. Do work within the park. There are standing first Saturday and third Saturday trail maintenance trips. That can vary from light trail maintenance to heavier trail reconstruction. Sometimes it’s just some trash pickup. There are many other ways that the park can use help. Some people volunteer within the main office/gift store. Some volunteer with the maintenance group. Alex Hinerfeld of our board members is a Super Board Member. He’s helped the park with technology and trail work. Bob Ruby is also a super volunteer. He’s sawyer certified, so he’ll go and clear trees in the park.
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