Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, August 3,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
FROM 1A
Byway
CEO Mandy Power.
This proposal has already
gained the Georgia Department
of Transportation’s approval. In
October, the Dawson County
Board of Commissioners
passed a resolution to support
the byway idea, as did the
boards in Gilmer and Pickens
counties, which also host some
of the roads included in the pro
posed designation. Dawson
County property owners have
also been notified.
A Georgia Scenic byway is
any designated highway, street,
road or route which significant
ly features certain intrinsic
qualities that should be protect
ed or enhanced, according to a
presentation about the byway.
The majority of the suggested
route follows existing roads in
Dawson County, from
Dawsonville northwest and pro
gressing into southern Gilmer
County and eastern Pickens
County.
The proposed byway starts in
downtown Dawsonville and
goes by sights like the old
courthouse, Pool Room and
Georgia Racing Hall of Fame
before winding past some of the
county’s historic churches, Len
Foote Hike Inn, Fausett Farms
and Burt’s Pumpkin Farm.
Presentation materials said
the benefits of having a byway
designation would include the
opportunity to show off
Dawson County’s culture, his
tory, nature and scenery. The
route would also promote con
nectivity to Gilmer and Pickens
County, thus helping promote a
shared heritage.
Dawson also has the benefit
of having the scenic byway
named after one of the county’s
landmarks, Power said.
The chamber is involved in
the initiative because of the
potential to enhance the area’s
visibility with tourists, who
could then spend money locally,
Power said.
Amicalola Falls is one of
Georgia’s most-visited state
parks.
The only byway-specific
restriction along the proposed
route is a prohibition against
putting up new billboards
(existing, temporary agritour
ism signs would be fine).
Signs with the state flower,
the Cherokee Rose, will be
posted every couple of miles to
mark the scenic byway. The
Amicalola Falls Scenic Byway
route would be listed on tour
ism websites and on the state
and national scenic byway web
sites.
As part of the next steps, the
chamber and its partners will
have to get state legislator sup
port, form a local advisory
committee to review the sug
gested corridor management
plan and map before the byway
application can be submitted.
When the idea first came up
at the BOC’s Oct. 7 work ses
sion, Chairman Billy Thurmond
mentioned that the route in
question already essentially
functions as a scenic byway and
that they’d “just be naming it.”
“Hopefully that in itself will
draw people,” Thurmond said.
“A lot of people look at that and
say, ‘Oh, that’s a scenic thing.
Fet’s go check that out.’”
I Amicalola Falls
Scenic Byway
j Dawson County
Scenic Byway
Points of Interest
Cultural
Historical
Recreational
in = 3,750 feet
Amicalola Falls
Scenic Byway
Dawson,
Gilmer &
Pickens County
■ Scenic Byway
Points of Interest
Cultural
I in = 3.948 feet
Photos
courtesy of
Northwest
Georgia
Regional
Commission
FROM 1A
Camp
have Fumpkin
Campground as part of his
family’s history.
“My great-great-great-
great-grandfather was the
one that got the 40 people
together to start this,”
Pirkle said. “This is the
proudest part of my histo
ry is [him] starting this.”
Pirkle’s daughter,
Hayley Garrett, said that
the tradition of kicking
off the camp meeting
week by feeding the con
gregants began around 20
years ago when Pirkle
decided to make it a little
easier on all of the fami-
lies moving in on
Monday who may not
have time to go get food
before Monday night ser
vices begin.
“Each side of the
campground took turns
and fed the preachers;
when it was our turn we
fed the preachers and
Daddy said ‘well if we’re
feeding the preachers
we’re feeding everybody’
and we’ve done it ever
since,” Garrett said. “It’s
a great fellowship night;
everybody gets together
and gets to know each
other; the ones that are
new get to enjoy it and
then we kick it off and
start meeting.”
Pirkle, along with his
cousin Farry Taffar and
the rest of their family,
grew up coming to camp
meeting each year. Taffar,
who has attended every
year for 82 years and who
now serves as the chair of
the campground’s trust
ees, said that it’s always
been something he’s
looked forward to each
summer.
“I grew up here; it’s just
a good family get togeth
er,” Taffar said. “Camp
meeting is something that,
growing up, you look for
ward to it every year.”
When Fumpkin
Campground was first
started, camp meetings
were always the last week
of August, right before
school started back in
September. Since then,
the camp meeting dates
have shifted back to the
last week in July, before
school starts back in
August.
Today, both Methodist
and Baptist preachers
take turns preaching dur
ing camp meeting.
Services are held twice a
day, at 11 a.m. and 7:45
p.m.
When Pirkle and
Taffar’s great-great-great-
great-grandfather first
began the campground,
he did so by gathering
together 40 men who
each donated money to
purchase the land the
campground still sits on
to this day.
“40 men went in and
paid a dollar apiece and
bought 40 acres and that’s
what this sits on; the only
thing that’s been cut off
of it was when we needed
some for the church but
everything else is still
under the trustees of the
campground,” Taffar said.
“When it started in 1830
they brought in the wag
ons and everything and
the way it’s been handed
down to us is they said
the Cherokee Indians
would sit out in the
woods and congregate
and listen in.”
Throughout the years,
Taffar and Pirkle said that
they’ve been able to real
ly get to know and love
the families who attend
camp meeting each sum
mer.
“We’ve seen people’s
kids come in and get
grown and get married
and then have their own
family and bring them
back,” Taffar said.
As part of Pirkle’s fam
ily, Garrett also grew up
coming to camp meeting
every year. Both of her
children were married at
the campground, and her
grandchildren make 10
generations of her family
that have attended camp
meetings each summer.
To Garrett, the best way
to describe the camp
ground can be summed
up in just a few words.
“To me it’s sacred here;
holy ground,” Garrett
said. “That’s really the
way to describe it.”
To learn more about
Fumpkin Campground and
camp meetings, go to
https ://www.facebook.com/
FumpkinCampground/.
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Competitive benefits are offered and a Condensed Work Schedule.
Applications may be filled out on our website at www.etowahwater.org found
under the Human Resource Department and they are accepted at Etowah
Water & Sewer Authority c/o Human Resource Department, 1162 Hwy 53E,
Dawsonville GA 30534.
Opened until filled. Etowah Water is a DFW and an EOE.
Erica Jones Dawson County News
On Monday July 25, families moved into the "tents" at Lumpkin
Campground in Dawson County for the annual camp meetings.
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