The Great Gopher Chase is on! Get all the details at the Georgia State Parks website. Win fabulous prizes, have tons of fun, and enjoy your state parks!
Building the Barn
March was a busy time around the New Equestrian Barn. We had a couple of volunteers give over 60 hours preparing for the Georgia DNR Equestrian Workday March 9 which was well attended by 25 enthusiastic and energized individuals. The great thing about this group is that the majority camp and ride here and it was good to see folks giving back. These volunteers gave a total of 184.5 hours. We were also thrilled to have a DNR Representative, not from the park, come and work with us, Brian Nichols. In addition, we had representation from the community. These individuals gave a full, hard day! Park Manager, Andre McLendon, and Sr. Ranger, Michael Johnson, were instrumental in all that was accomplished. A special thanks to Camp Host Jerry.
Many groups and organizations were present: Back Country Horsemen of Middle and South Georgia, Back Country Horsemen of North Georgia, CTHA, Kel-Mac, and Friends volunteers at A. H. Stephens Historic Park.
Other goals and tasks of the day included trail maintenance, painting picnic tables, grills to all campsites, work on drainage problems, and hauling, tampering dirt, and cutting and laying mats to ten stalls, ground grooming and the completion of two more campsites.
Your State Parks Day 2012 was a huge success for Friends. Chapter throughout the state, partners like REI, and DNR staff all collaborated in a fantastic effort to make a huge impact for our state parks and local communities. Friends welcomed about 2,000 volunteers throughout Georgia to transform hiking trails into a clean, safe habitat for wildlife, repaint park structures, build birdhouses, and countless other projects that showed visitors the impact our state parks and historic sites have on Georgia.
Congratulations to the Allen Family for submitting the winning video in our 2012 Your State Parks video contest!
The entire family got into the act filming their journey as they completed the Muddy Spokes Club throughout Georgia. We're proud to have awarded them with some great prizes from our partner BassPro Shops as well as a weekend getaway at a state park lodge or cottage.
Here is their winning submission:
Check out all the other winning submissions on our YouTube channel.
Hayrides, fall festivals, and school fieldtrips are all happening this month at Georgia's state parks. Rangers are staying busy offering guided hikes, identifying various plants and animals that call their parks "home." Friends chapter and volunteers throughout the state are offering park guests more programming and exciting opportunities in support of their favorite sites.
