Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, June 1,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Dawson
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
On Tuesday May 24,
the Dawson County
Chamber of Commerce
celebrated 45 years in the
community with a special
“45th Chamberversary
Celebration”, presented
by Northside Hospital.
Dozens of community
members and business
leaders flocked to the
chamber office to network
with one another and to
celebrate the occasion
with Bully Burgers from
the Dawsonville Pool
Room, cookies from
Crumbl Cookies, live
music performed by
David Payton, ax throw
ing and giveaways.
Mandy Power, presi
dent and CEO of the
Dawson County Chamber
of Commerce, said that
having all of the local
businesses together in one
place to celebrate the spe
cial occasion was really
an embodiment of what
the chamber is all about.
“Our presenting spon
sor is Northside Forsyth;
they’re such a great com
munity partner and we’re
very excited they’re our
presenting sponsor today,”
Power said. “And then we
have our music, we have
ax throwing, we have
Crumbl and you can’t
have a 45th anniversary
without the Pool Room.
We’re trying to make this
all about Dawson County
Chamber of Commerce celebrates 45 years
Photos by Erica Jones Dawson County News
On May 24, the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce held its "45th
Chamberversary Celebration" to celebrate 45 years in the community.
Local musician David Payton plays live music dur
ing the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce's
'45th Chamberversary Celebration' on May 24.
being able to celebrate
with one another, so we’re
very excited.”
Power said that, as the
president and CEO of the
chamber, she’s excited to
see how far it’s come
since it became a part of
the community 45 years
ago, and the strides that
the chamber has made
since she took the helm in
the beginning of 2021.
“Although I have not
been here for 45 years,
I’m very excited for those
who helped establish the
chamber and had the fore
sight 45 years ago to be
what it is today, so we’re
very excited about that,”
Power said. “I took over a
very good healthy cham
ber and am happy to con
tinue to have it thrive and
just celebrate it today with
our 45th anniversary.”
In the 45 years that it
has been a part of the
Dawson County commu
nity, the chamber has
been an important corner
stone of the community as
an advocate for business,
tourism, leadership, eco
nomic development,
workforce development
and much more.
“What we do for the
Community members and business leaders visit
and network during the Dawson County Chamber
of Commerce's '45th Chamberversary Celebration'
on May 24.
Event attendees line up to enjoy fresh burgers
from the Dawsonville Pool Room during the
Dawson County Chamber of Commerce's '45th
Chamberversary Celebration' on May 24.
community in being the
voice of business, repre
senting our business com
munity and making sure
that they can network
with one another and get
their business to thrive is
a great accomplishment
for us; we’re very excit
ed,” Power said. “We
hope to have huge, big
adventures going forward
for all of our businesses in
our community, and we
hope to have 45 more
years.”
FROM 1A
Amicalola
Rabon said. “The park
also offers a variety of
other activities including
camping, cottages,
ziplines, a 57 room lodge,
restaurant and conference
center, and a 729 foot
waterfall.”
Because of the number
of visitors that come to
the park each year, he
said that the new visitors
center is a much-needed
and long-awaited
improvement on the old
one.
“The new visitors cen
ter will feature improved
retail space, historic
exhibits, a multi-purpose
meeting room and the
ability to serve as an
instant command center
in emergency situations,”
Rabon said.
During his speech,
Senator Steve Gooch said
that projects like the new
visitors center are very
necessary to keep
improving upon and pre
serving state parks like
Amicalola.
“This is a jewel of a
facility; it’s a state park
that you all own as tax
payers and we are just
here to preserve it for the
future generations; there’s
so many people that have
come and gone before us
and have made this possi
ble,” Gooch said. “We as
citizens and as legislators
have a responsibility to
try to preserve it, main
tain it and let others enjoy
it in the future.”
Gooch was instrumental
in the project as the senate
sponsor of the legislation
that created the Georgia
Outdoor Stewardship Act,
an act that preserves fund
ing for projects like the
visitors center.
“The Georgia Outdoor
Stewardship Act will con
tinue to provide a dedi
cated stream of revenue
for big projects, not only
in state parks but all over
our state and cities and
counties,” Gooch said.
“When the department
asked me to carry that
legislation I was honored
to do so because it truly
shows where your value
and where your tax dol
lars are going. We have a
beautiful facility here,
and this is gonna be excit
ing to see this come to
fruition.”
Both State
Representative Will Wade
and Dawson County
District 1 Commissioner
Sharon Fausett also spoke
during the ceremony,
recounting their lives
growing up in Dawson
County and all the memo
ries that they had each
made with their families
at Amicalola Falls State
Park.
“My mom was a natu
ralist here in the late 80s
and early 90s, so I literal
ly grew up here for a
decade of my childhood,”
Wade said, recounting
memories of spending
summers at the park and
conditioning for basket
ball season by running to
the top of the falls and
back. “I think [the new
center] is a great addition
and it gives folks a lot of
things to do and have a lot
of fun, and it’s just an
amazing testament to the
next century of what can
be experienced out here.”
Wade added that he
remembers hearing mur
murs about the old visi
tors center being outdated
even back then, so he’s
proud to have played a
part in bringing the new
center to fruition.
“This is a great project;
I can remember even as a
young child some of the
mumblings of folks about
‘man this building is old’
and ‘this is kind of outdat
ed’ and ‘it’s expensive to
replace these light
bulbs’,” Wade said, “so I
know that bringing this
building into the 21st cen
tury is gonna be well
received by not only this
community but those hun
dreds of thousands, if not
millions, of folks that
come through those gates
or walk through these
woods to come and expe
rience what I believe is
truly a jewel of the south.”
Fausett also recounted
memories of living her
whole life just down the
road from Amicalola and
bringing her son to the
park to play every day
after school. She said that,
while it may be a bitter
sweet moment to see the
old visitors center no lon
ger standing where it
always has, the new cen
ter will be a great addition
to the park.
“I’m just gonna declare
this one of the greatest
days we’ve had in this
county,” Fausett said
emphatically during her
speech. “Part of it for me
is bittersweet because I’ve
been here all my life just
down the road, but the
visitors center has done its
dues and I know this is
going to be absolutely
great when it is finished.”
She added that, as a
county commissioner,
much of her thought pro
cess when it comes to
budgeting and planning
how to spend money has
to do with asking herself
Erica Jones Dawson County News
DNR Deputy Commissioner Walter Rabon speaks during the May 27 ground
breaking ceremony for the new Amicalola Falls State Park visitors center.
how necessary a project
is.
“We get in budget time
and of course we think
about budgets all the time,
and what I try to do is I
try to say ‘is this a want
or is this a need’ and this
was really both but it was
a tremendous need
because it has been here
for so long,” Fausett said.
“This is certainly a jewel
and I’m so proud that it’s
in Dawson County and
it’s in District 1; I just
want to thank everybody
that had a part in making
this come to fruition.”
Before breaking ground
on the project, James
Hamilton from the North
Georgia Mountains
Authority thanked every
group and individual who
helped bring the project
about, emphasizing that it
couldn’t have happened
without those partner
ships.
“In all the years that
I’ve been in DNR I find
that the best project and
the best park operations
are those that are based on
really strong partnerships
and positive relationships,
and this project couldn’t
have happened any other
way,” Hamilton said.
The new Amicalola
Falls State Park visitors
center is currently sched
uled to be completed in
spring of 2023.
PAP?
Inspire
Sleep Apnea Innovation
Hear from doctors in your area about
Inspire, a sleep apnea treatment that
works inside your body.
No mask. No hose. Just sleep.
Additional events added frequently.
Visit lnspireSleepEvents.com
to register for a free event.
Inspire is not for everyone. Talk to your doctor to see if it's right for you, and
review important safety information at lnspireSleep.com.
