The Gal Pals ride again! Albeit a smaller group, the Fearsome Foursome spent the last week of May riding Big South Fork and East Fork, Tenn.: Mary Ann, Lynn, Toni and I. (We numbered five one day when gal pal Angie rode with us.)
The weather was perfect perfect because it threatened rain one day, which made us decide to go hiking instead of riding. We had so much fun hiking (and burning off some of the thousands of calories we were consuming) that we decided to make it an annual tradition: the Hiking Day!
The last day at East Fork was the most beautiful ride, and except for me losing Cole's bridle and reins, it was a perfect day not too sunny, not too hot, not too buggy, with incredible views and a moderately challenging trail (for the horses anyway). How do you lose a bridle, you ask? Well, let's just say, against my initial inclination, I decided to take it off and put a nylon halter on him for the trailer ride back to camp hung the bridle on the side of the trailer and the rest is obvious. (Oh, I so hate getting old and absentminded!) At least it was at the end of the last day. I've now repurchased bridle, bit and reins (cha-ching).
I can't help but make a connection here to our cover story on Pet Rescue and Adoption, which I whole-heartedly support and will say why in a minute. While not everyone considers a horse a pet, I do, and it stands mentioning that equine rescue and adoption organizations abound and need your generous heart more than ever these days. If you are considering a trail buddy, a pasture ornament, or even a competition steed, it would be worth your while to look at the area equine rescue organizations before doling out dollars to a breeder.
Except for the few who've dared to sneak in around fences and locked gates, it's been years since the public has had access to the beloved Radium Springs property where the grand Radium Springs Casino once stood in all her glory. Soon, the property will be open once again for all to enjoy.
Putting to use some $2.5 million in funds raised through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax 5 referendum passed by voters in 2004, Dougherty County is about to unveil Radium Springs Gardens, on the same site where generations of Albanians frolicked in freezing water, hung out with friends and family and danced the night away.
Built in the 1920s, the casino and the springs drew crowds of people. Known as one of the seven natural wonders of Georgia, Radium is the largest natural spring in the state. An extensive underwater cavern system snakes beneath the springs, whose water contains traces of radium, hence its name.
Because of the radium, the springs were once thought to offer some health benefits, and wealthy northerners often stopped in on their way to Florida via railroad.
Following devastating floods in 1994 and 1998, the casino was demolished in 2003 as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood buyout program, and ownership of the 6.8-acre site was returned to the county, says Dougherty County Administrator Richard Crowdis.
Ron Huffman, senior principal landscape architect with MACTEC in Kennesaw , Ga. , oversaw the design of the master plan four years ago. The $1 million-plus Phase I of the project includes the construction of a stark white open-air structure designed to sit in the footprint of the former casino, offering replicated views of the springs through openings where casino windows were once located.
We call it the Casino Garden and are paying homage to the old casino by putting up walls to replicate the casino building and restoring some rockwork damaged over the years, he says. The first phase, scheduled to open to the public this month , will also include a set of historic/interpretive markers, including photos of the casino and information on flora, fauna and the Flint River. A rain garden and a shaded seating area on the island are also part of the initial phase.
Workers have completed installation of more than 8,000 plants, trees and shrubs on the site, including some stately 20-foot magnolias. We also have old-fashioned hydrangeas and a lot of azaleas and things that will hopefully bring back a lot of good memories for visitors, says Justin Powell, with Dougherty County Public Works.
To maintain the plantings, the county partnered with Albany Technical College's horticultural program, which will provide student interns to care for the plantings, says Crowdis. The overall design of the gardens was created to require relatively low maintenance.
The second of three phases in the long-range plan will focus on the area between the temporary gravel parking lot and the Radium Springs Wildlife Observation Point, a project funded several years ago by grant money, the DNR and Merck Chemical. The gravel lot will be replaced with paved parking and a formal garden with a gazebo and an events lawn will be created and available to rent for special events such as weddings, says Huffman. In addition, two covered pavilions and more interpretive markers will also be part of the phase.
