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CITY SUMMER CAMP
CALENDAR
> Fireworks
at the Park:
Dates — July 3,4 p.m.-
-10 p.m. (Talent Show
starts at 7 p.m.)
Location — Monroe
County Rec Depart
ment
** Sponsored by the
City of Forsyth and
Main Street (Stage for
Talent Show, vendors
and kids’ activities)
> CampABLE
(Special Needs
Camp):
Dates — July 9-13,
9 a.m.—12 p.m.
(Ages 5-21)
Location — Monroe
County Rec Depart
ment Youth Center
Instructor — Elizabeth
Holloway
** There is a charge
for this camp. Contact
eholloway416@
yahoo.com for more
information
> British Soccer
Camp:
Dates — July 9-13
Location — Monroe
County Rec Depart
ment Football Field
** There is a charge
for this camp. Register
at www.challengers-
ports.com. (Contact
the Rec Department
for more details)
> Karate Camp:
Dates — July 9-12,
3 p.m.—3:45 p.m.
(Ages 3-6),
3:45 pm.-4:30 p.m.
(Ages 7-12)
Location — Monroe
County Rec Depart
ment Youth Center
Instructor — Michael
Brewster (Owner of
Okinawan Karate
School)
> Softball Camp:
Dates — July 9-12,6
p.m.—8 p.m.
(All youth age groups)
Location — Monroe
County Softball
Complex
Instructor — Hannah
Grossman (Mary Per
sons softball coach)
> Science Camp:
Dates — July 16-19,
10 am.—11 am.
(Grades K-2),
11 am.—12 p.m.
(Grades 3-5)
Location — Monroe
County Rec Depart
ment Youth Center
Instructor — Yvonne
Stroud (T.G. Scott
Elementary teacher)
> Music Camp:
Dates — July 16-19,
1:30 p.m.—2:30 p.m.
(Grades K-5)
Location — Forsyth
United Methodist
Church
Instructor — Sandy
Watson (Forsyth
United Methodist
Church music min
ister)
> Boys Basketball
Camp:
Dates — July 16-19,
6 p.m.—8 p.m.
(Ages 8-14)
Location — Monroe
County Rec Depart
ment Youth Center
Instructor — Greg Nix
(Mary Persons boys
basketball coach)
See CAMP • Page 2B
Juliette welcomes Water Trails visitors
Ruth Ward of Texas, center, is greeted by Alex Hammond,
right, and sister Averi with water and a floating key chain
as she comes off the Ocmulgee River at Juliette Landing.
(Photos/Diane Glidewell)
Paticipants young and older said they were enjoying their
week-long Paddle Georgia trip down the Yellow and Oc
mulgee Rivers, including the part through Monroe County.
Pat Krezel of Tampa, Fla., left, and Everett White of Harbor,
Fla. said they were enjoying the river and the people they
are meeting along the way on the 2018 Georgia Paddle.
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr
Summer solstice, the
longest day of the year,
brought about 400 folks
in kayaks and canoes
through Monroe County
on the Ocmulgee River
enjoying those long hours
of daylight in the Georgia
summer sun. The Paddle
Georgia event, which
began on June 16 and fin
ished on June 22, included
stops at Juliette River
Landing and Popes Ferry
in Monroe County.
Paddle Georgia offers
a week-long trip down a
Georgia river for kayakers
and canoers each summer,
organizing social activities
and coordinating spots for
overnight camping and
side trips of interest along
the route.This is the first
year the trip has come
down the Yellow River and
the northern part of the
Ocmulgee River.
Since the dam at Juliette
could not be crossed
by paddlers, the kayaks
and canoes came out at
Juliette Landing, were
transported by truck and
trailer to the other side of
the dam at the old mill,
and reentered the Ocmul
gee on the south side of
the mill to continue their
journey down the river
until they reached Popes
Ferry, where they camped
for the evening. Paddle
Georgia showed the movie
“Fried Green Tomatoes”
the evening before the
group reached Juliette and
encouraged the travelers
to visit historic Juliette,
where the movie was
filmed, and check out its
unique shops and re
nowned Whistle Stop Cafe
as they took their break
from the river.
Forsyth Convention &
Visitors Bureau executive
director Gilda Stanbery,
Juliette resident Kay
Cummings and Cum
mings’ grandchildren,
Alex Hammond V, 9,
and Averi Hammond, 18
months, welcomed the
paddlers as they exited the
river at Juliette Landing,
offering them cool water,
a flotation keychain and a
warm welcome to Monroe
County. Members of the
Ocmulgee River Keepers
were ready with trucks,
trailers, willing hands
and strong backs to load
kayaks and canoes and
transport them about a
half-mile to the re-entry
point.
Shopkeepers in Juliette
and the town’s flock of
guineas greeted the travel
ers. The Whistle Stop Cafe
had a tent outside, selling
fried green tomatoes for
those who did not want
to wait to eat inside. Tony
Deliso of the River Club of
Juliette had fried apple and
cherry pies for sale in front
of the Juliette Fire Station
to benefit the River Club.
Deliso, a baker with 52
years experience, made the
pies himself.
“They all looked happy,”
Deliso said of the visi
tors. He said some of the
paddlers he greeted came
from as far away as Ohio
and Oregon. Deliso is
planning his own first kay
ak trip in July in Green
ville, Penn, as he joins
about 25 family members
for an annual reunion.
Conversations with
the paddlers confirmed
Deliso’s observation that
the trip was going well.
A quick sampling found
paddlers from Texas,
Oregon and Florida, as
well as Marietta, Atlanta,
Lawrenceville and Ma
con. Many of them were
retired, but there was a
group of teens and there
were younger paddlers
making the trip with their
families. Some of them
had been on seven or eight
Paddle Georgia excursions
before and others were on
their first adventure.
Ruth Ward of Wichita
Falls, Texas said she trav
eled a Georgia river with
Paddle Georgia last sum
mer and brought three
more paddlers with her
this year, two from Texas
and one from Oregon.
One group that landed at
Juliette was part of Adopt-
a-Stream monitoring for
the River Keepers and
had been taking samples
as they enjoyed the river
and the sun. They said the
oxygen level, conductiv
ity and Ph of the river all
looked good; they will
get results on their e coli
samples later.
Members of the Oc
mulgee Water Trails were
proud that they have
recently placed markers
at every mile of the river
in 11 counties (not as far
north as Monroe County,
yet). These markers have
coordinates that will en
able travelers on the river
to let someone know ex
actly where they are if they
ever need help. Kit Carson
of Ocmulgee Water Trails
presented Juliette River
Club with the sign to mark
the Juliette Dam Landing
on the river on June 7 and
shortly before that the sign
for Popes Ferry Landing
had been installed on the
river in Monroe County.
These signs let river travel
ers know where they are.
Carson, who is from
Macon, participated in
the 2018 Paddle Georgia
and was at the Juliette
Landing greeting other
participants, helping pull
and load boats and mak
ing sure all was going well.
The heavy rains in preced
ing weeks had the river
full and in good condition
for travel, but the rains
held off for the most part
during the event. One
paddler commented she
had seen an awful lot of
balls on the river (soccer,
basketball, beach, tennis,
etc.) which probably had
something to do with the
waters rushing south after
the heavy rains. It was bet
ter than the many tires she
saw on the Chattahoochee
River trip.
Carson said that al
though there is a lot of
slow, lazy paddling on the
Yellow River and Ocmul
gee River for the 2018
Paddle Georgia, there are
also some Class 2 and 3
rapids on the route. He
said the group would be
crossing rapids at Dames
Ferry after it left Juliette
on its way to Popes Ferry.
Helpers were stationed
at Dames Ferry to point
out the route to take to
avoid being dumped into
the water. There are also
rapids above and below
Porterdale, where the
group spent its first night.
Carson said there are
many “secrets” along the
rivers that one can only
find by traveling them,
like the ruins of the once-
thriving town of Seven
Islands that is now virtu
ally only accessible from
the Ocmulgee, and who
knew you could fly fish on
the Ocmulgee? The clarity
of the water on the north
end of the Ocmulgee, as it
comes out of Lake Jackson,
is a surprise to many.
“It’s your river to ex
plore!” said Carson, noting
that the phase is the Oc
mulgee Water Trails’ new
slogan.
On the last day of Paddle
Georgia, the group cov
ered 11 miles from Popes
Ferry to Amerson Park in
Macon, descending from
the rocky Piedmont into
the sandy coastal plain
for an ending feast and
celebration.
Monroe rec dept, to host British Soccer
camp beginning on Monday, July 9
Players interested in
attending the Monroe
County Recreation
Department’s annual British
Soccer Camp can register at
challengersports.com.
This year’s camp will be
held from Monday, July 9
through Friday, July 13 at
the rec department at 100
Dan Pitts Drive in Forsyth.
The camp will teach such
essential soccer skills as
speed/agility, juggling, foot
skills, passing/control, drib
bling and shooting.
For MiniSoccer players,
ages 3-5 years, the camp
will be held from 8 a.m. to
9 a.m. daily with a cost of
$92 per player. For the Half
Day camp for players ages
6-18 years, the camp will
be held from 9:15 a.m. to
12:15 p.m. daily with a cost
of $145 per player. For the
Full Day camp for players
ages 8 to 18 years, the camp
will be held from 9:15 a.m.
to 4:15 p.m. daily with a cost
of $205 per player. Also,
the Goalkeeper/Goal Scorer
camp for players ages 7-18
years will be held from 1:15
p.m. to 3:15 p.m. daily with
a cost of $50 per player.
Goalkeeper/Goal Scorer
camp participants must also
sign up for the Half Day
camp.
Bonus Golden Goal ses
sions are also available
Half-Day Camps. See chal-
lengersports.com for more
information.
For more information,
call Daniel Growcott at
678-540-1586 or e-mail him
at dgrowcott@challengers-
ports.com.
Sign-ups continue for annual teen driving camp at GPSTC
The Monroe County Sheriff s
Office in cooperation with the
Georgia Public Safety Training
Center (GPSTC) will hold its 11th
annual Teen Safe Driving Camp at
GPSTC from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on
Saturday, Aug. 11.
The camp, which is for teens ages
15-17, will cost $20 and will include
a hot lunch served in the GPSTC
cafeteria and logo t-shirt. Check-in
will be between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.
The one-day camp will teach new
drivers defensive driving tips, the
dangers of distracted or impaired
driving, skid and off-road recovery
techniques, safety at grade crossings
and important vehicle maintenance
skills.
Anyone wishing to attend must
complete an application and return
it with payment to the Monroe
County Sheriff s Office either in
person or by mail. The deadline
for applications is Friday, July 27.
Space is limited. Checks should
be delivered in person to Monroe
County Sheriffs Office, 145 L. Cary
Bittick Drive, Forsyth, Ga., 31029 or
by mail to Monroe County Sheriff s
Office, P.O. Box 276, Forsyth, Ga.,
31029, Attn: Safe Driving Camp.
Teens must bring either their
learner’s permit or driver’s license,
and all campers must wear tennis
shoes.
For more information, contact
either Sgt. Richard Coughenour at
478-262-1125 or Dep. Marilynne
Fitts at 478-957-2811.