December: A large group enjoyed our annual winter walk with Wendell and Eleanor Hoomes to view the Christmas ferns and the native holly. Both seem to be flourishing in the McIntosh woods.
November: Sally Bethea, Upper Chattahoochee River Keeper, discussed the impact of decreasing the amount of water released from Lake Lanier on the river downstream from Atlanta. There was some interest in how we might monitor water levels etc. in our area.
October: Walk and Talk was led by Mike Handyside, who presented a program on the “Leave No Trace” camping method. He demonstrated the principles of environmentally friendly camping with a sample campsite.
Also: We participated in the Rivers Alive Clean-up, in an event sponsored by the Reserve and by Georgia Power. Thank you to all the FOMR members who served as guides and helped with crowd registration and management.
October continued with our annual membership meeting at the Carroll County Recreation Department. We had a good turnout to hear Dr. Thomas Foster, with the UWG Department of Anthropology, speak about his research into what was happening in this part of the Chattahoochee River Valley during the colonial period, which brought the English and the French into contact with the Native American residents. Our outgoing president, Dita Pickering was presented with a mosaic table designed and built by member Helen Helwig, in appreciation of her years of service to the organization. New board members and officers were elected. (See list at end of newsletter.)
September: Our scheduled bird Walk and Talk coincided with Fall Festival, making a quiet walk in the woods with the birds an oxymoron. However, we did spend some time tracking a few brave birds along the river and back into the wetlands – which were quite dry at the time. Thanks to Stanley and Lora Tate for their guidance on this expedition.
