February 2012 3292 Thompson Bridge Road #250, Gainesville, GA 30506 Phone: (770) 287-1444 Fax: (770) 287-1445 E-mail lakesidenews@mindspring.com Vol. 18 Issue 2

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Also inside:Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 49Break from the lake . . . . . . . .Page 54 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 34Captain’s comments . . . . . . . .Page 20Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 55COE column . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 51Cruising Wilsons . . . . . . . . . . .Page 22Dining guide . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 45Fishing column . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 6Glenn Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 24Lake Lanier Association news . .Page 51 Lake Lanier Olympic Venue . . .Page 16 Lake levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 24Lanier map . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 52Marinas information . . . . . . . .Page 40Outdoor activity calendar . . . .Page 43Power Squadron column . . . . . .Page 31Sailing calendar . . . . . . . . . . .Page 34Shore lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 46Steve Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 51US Coast Guard Auxiliary . . . . .Page 10

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Lake Lanier property experts who live and work where they play!

www.livingonlakelanier.comForeclosure and Short Sale Experts

Teresa Smith 770-654-4173TeresaKW@live.com

Tom Peters 678-663-6522

TomKW@live.com

Listening to the mel-low trumpet sounds ofworld-renowned musicianPhil Driscoll as I peeredacross Lake Oconee from

the exclusive Reynolds Plantation in the fadinglight, I thought to myself, “This is the way tolive!” Page 48

Reynolds Plantation

The University of Vir-ginia crew brought itslargest contingent ever toLake Lanier in January forwinter break practice. The65-member squad was the first of about 15 colle-giate crews heading for Lake Lanier for pre-sea-son conditioning. Page 16

Collegiate crews head to Lanier

The City of Oakwood will pursue other linksto Lake Lanier after the Hall County Commis-sion’s denial of its request to annex county roadsleading to the lake. Commissioners on Jan. 26unanimously voted down a proposal by the SouthHall city to annex county roads that the citysought to gain lake access. Page 17

Annexation request denied

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FREEaatt aallmmoosstt 330000 llooccaattiioonnss aarroouunndd LLaakkee LLaanniieerr

PHOTO BY JANE HARRISON

View of Longwood Cove from the lakeside walk. On a clear day, North Georgia mountains are visible. For aphotographic tour of Rock Creek Greenway Trail, see page 42.

For more listings, see ourad on page 9.

2 LAKESIDE February 2012

is published byLanier Publishing, Inc.,

3292 Thompson Bridge Rd.#250, Gainesville, GA 30506

(770) 287-1444

Publisher/EditorAlan Hope

ProductionSusan Nish

Susan Daniel Creative, Inc.

Senior WriterPamela A. Keene

Contributing writersPhillip Sartain, Roy Crittenden,Tommy Wilkinson, Millie Adcox, Mike Rudderham, Glenn Burns,

Bob & Carolyn Wilson, Lisa Beers, Jane Harrison

Travel EditorBill Vanderford

Lakeside is published monthly byLanier Publishing, Inc. based inGainesville, GA, with distribution insome 300 locations around LakeLanier and other areas.Opinions expressed by contributingwriters are not necessarily those ofLakeside, its staff or its advertisers.Manuscripts and photographs sub-mitted will be considered for publi-cation. Lakeside cannot be held responsi-ble for such materials in case ofdamage or loss.

By Pamela A. KeeneThe eyes of North Georgia

business and political leaders fo-cused on Frank Norton Jr. in mid-January for his annual NativeIntelligence report.

With resi-dential real es-tate continuingto be less thanrobust, the ma-jority of Nor-ton’s 2012forecast fo-cused on housing, finances andgrowth in the region.

However, his No. 3 Top 10Trend will hit home for Lakesideon Lanier readers. Simply titled“Water,” the section is among theshortest in the report. Withprovocative sub-headline “Are WeThirsty Yet?” repeated, Nortonsaid he was “dumbfounded with alarge number of public officialsand private citizens’ general lackof urgency with respect to water.

“By and large, over the last 18months, it seems Georgia’s waterczars are slow playing the dealtcards and sitting on their hands,”he said.

“The aqua clock has been hitwith a snooze button, but our liq-

uid neutron bomb still ticks on.”Norton called on elected offi-

cials to make some moves, eventhough Georgia’s Water Negotia-tions are headed for the USSupreme Court.

“The pressure valve of imme-diate growth has been relieved,”he said, because the number ofhousing permits in Atlanta for2011 was only 5,300, comparedwith more than 42,000 at thehousing peak. “We must have aplan, an integrated plan for pro-viding Georgia’s economy and itsthirsty demographics with sus-tainable, clean, fresh watersources.”

While the Lake Lanier Associ-ation is working to raise Lanier’sfull pool from 1071 to 1073 to in-crease storage capacity, Nortonhas proposed digging the lakedeeper.

“It makes too much sense todig out the 15 to 20 percent ofLanier’s storage capacity filledwith 50 years of silt in an existingEPA-approved reservoir versuswaiting 10 to 15 years for govern-ment permission for a new reser-voir,” he said.

“This restores 61 to 92 billiongallons of storage capacity. The

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Norton Native Intelligence: are we thirsty yet?by-product of digging it deeper isit puts thousands of grading con-tractors back to work and cranksup both idle machinery and theeconomy.”

Norton also mentioned the op-tions of adding two more feet tothe lake’s full-pool to create an-other 28 billion gallons, theequivalent of 20 future reservoirs(that may be) built decades awayin Middle Georgia; working at the

same time to create a network ofregional reservoirs; and rewardingdevelopment and redevelopmentprojects that create substantialwater conservation initiativesthrough Georgia Tax Credits.

The full report is posted at thewebsite listed below and may bedownloaded free.

MORE INFO: www.nortoncommercial.com

February 2012 LAKESIDE 3

Teresa SmithAtlanta Partners

Each Keller Williams office is independently owned and operated.

Lake Lanier Specialist • Lake Lanier Resident Founding member of Lake Lanier Realtors Association

770-654-4173 • 678-318-5026

Please visit www.livingonlakelanier.comto view all of our listings! These are just a few!!!

4 bedroom, 2 bath log cabin on south lake. Fully

furnished! Deeded boat slip in community dock.

Lots with boat slip from $69,900-$99,000.

$228,900 Lake Cabins ID#12815

SOLD 4,

ONLY 1 CABIN LEFT

& 3 LOTS WITH

DOCK SLIPS

LAKE LOTS AVAILABLE in fantastic gated subdivisionof 18 homesites on Lake Lanier. Lot sizes range from 1.5acres to 2.46 acres. Gorgeous 24 slip community dock:FREE deeded slip in community dock w/purchase of a lot.Subdivision offers swimming pool/bath house and stone hottub overlooking the lake! Fabulous community pavilionwith gas grill. Owner financing available. FANTASTICopportunity to use dock now and build later! Prices start at$149,000. Please call information line for details and updat-ed pricing information. Watermark Cove ID#16885

INFO 24/7Call 678-835-9331Then enter the corresponding

5 digit ID#

POTENTIAL SHORT SALE! 3/2 w/kitchen interrace level too! Large detached garage, sun-room, rec rm & grandfathered road to lake!Single slip dock permit. Dolvin Lane ID#18295REDUCED TO $339,000

NEW FORECLOSURE! 3/3.5 with interior pool.Large great room great room and kitchen. 3 levels.Community dock and boat ramp. Please call forinfo. Quiet Place in the Woods ID#18395$169,900

APPROVED SHORT SALE PRICE. Biltmore onLanier. Private 3.5 acre setting w/3 dbl slip dock per-mits. 7BR/7.5BAs, pool, pond. Incredible structure,one of a kind, very private w/gentle slope to water &panoramic views. Built in 2006. Needs approxi-mately $350,000 to get back to the FABULOUSstate it was once in! Priced to sell quickly. Sold 'as-is.' No disclosures. Grant Ford ID#18305$1,399,999. MUST call for appt.

3 GORGEOUS LAKE LOTS in North Hallschool district. Single slip docks. Buy now andbuild later. Harbour View Ct ID#12875. Pricedfrom $139,900-$199,900. Please call for info.

4/3 better than new craftsman style lakehome, 3 fin flrs. Beautiful year round viewsand drought proof water, top quality thru-out. Let Lake Lanier entertain you. 24 x 28S/S dock w/party deck. Sunset views.Grant Ford Road ID#16675 $499,000

FURNISHED COTTAGE ON CHESTATEE BAY! Charming2/2 great for a weekend or a full time. Open floor plan w/vaultedceilings in great room & wood burning stove. New windows.Sunroom overlooking the lake as well as a fabulous deck forgrilling and entertaining! Great storage and workroom in the ter-race level. Grass to the water and single slip boat house. $249,900

UNDER

CONTRACT!UNDER

CONTRACT!

BEST PRICE IN HARBOUR POINT! POTENTIAL SHORT SALE! Fabulous 4/4.5with gourmet kitchen. This home is professionally decorated and shows like a modelhome! Boat slip option is available for additional $35K. Enjoy fantastic lake views frommost every room. Enjoy your morning coffee on the screened porch overlooking the lake.Harbour Point Parkway ID#16825 $725,000

NEW FORECLOSURE IN CHESTATEE GOLF CLUB ONLAKE LANIER. Covered or uncovered dock slips available.Remarkable 4/5.5 on full basement, hardwood floors on main &tile flooring in all baths. Kitchen has oversized island w/granitecountertops, wet bar & opens to fireside keeping room. Mastersuite on main w/ his & hers vanities & closets. Outdoor livingareas include large front porch w/ fireplace. Sold 'as-is’. $469,900

FORECLOSURE LISTING! 17 ACRESBEAUTIFUL, PRIVATE MINI-ESTATEW/MOUNTAIN VIEW!! Gorgeous 4BR/5.5BA stone home. Soaring ceiling w/tim-ber beams in gr rm. Exquisite Master suite.Teen/in-law suite above 3 car garage.Fabulous exterior porch w/FP and kitchenoverlooking wood, creek and SkittsMountain. Great for horses! $629,950

UNDER

CONTRACT!

UNDER

CONTRACT!

BRAND NEW LAKE LOT FORECLOSURE.One of Lanier's last true lake lots with double slipdock permit. 1.37 acres in quiet cove. Gentle walk tolake in elite, gated community! Club house, pool, andtennis! Build your dream home on this appealingsite! Cumberland on Lanier ID#12905 $111,100

UNDER

CONTRACT!

4 LAKESIDE February 2012

Heritage Real Estate • The Chambers Team675 EE Butler Pkwy. • Gainesville, GA 30501

www.PattiChambers.com • Office 770-538-4000

THE PATTI CHAMBERS TEAMTHE PATTI CHAMBERS TEAM

CITY LAKE HOME near Chattahoochee Country

Club. Gentle lot & covered boat dock with party

deck. Great neighborhood & great curb appeal. Cul-

de-sac street. 4BR/2.5 BA. Call Beverly or Sally.

STUNNING CITY LAKE HOME built in 2008. Doubleslip covered dock, open floor plan, tall ceilings,hardwood floors, granite & stainless, plantationshutters, finished terrace level, walk in closets, 3car garage. New to the market. Appointment only.

$472,900 $299,000

$625,000

NEW LISTING. MAGNIFICENT LAKE HOME ON "THEISLAND". Breathtaking views, convenient city loca-tion, custom designed, tall ceilings, granite coun-ters, large open rooms, 3 FP’s, 2 laundry rooms,community pool. Perfect for entertaining. Call Patti.

$575,000 $465,000

WE LIVE AND PLAY ON LAKE LANIER

LAKE ESTATE home w/great views, superb plan &great architectural detail w/barrel ceilings, yearround views. Huge DR, master on main, gourmetkitchen, finished terrace level, 3 FP’s, wine cellar.Near Chattahoochee Country Club/golf course.6BR/5.5 BA. Call Patti or Patsy.

$1,399,000 $1,199,000

GREATEST LAKE HOUSE! Never been on the mar-ket before. Builder’s personal home. Quality thru-out. 3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths, 2 fireplaces. Levelgrassed yards. Lots of privacy. Mt. Vernon/NorthHall. Call Patti.

BEATIFUL CRAFTSMAN STYLE Lake home in theCity. 1.14 acres, single slip covered dock w/hydro-hoist lift. 4BR/3BA, living room, dining room, beau-tiful kitchen, finished terrace level. This home haseverything! Priced Below Recent Appraisal. CallBeverly or Sally.

$995,000 $899,000

BEAUTIFUL DEEP WATER Lake Property w/wideopen views. Gentle slope. Situated in cul-de-sac.Completely fenced. Finished terrace level. Very niceboat dock w/hydrohoist and party deck, jet ski lifts.Call Patti.

$639,000 $579,000

ENJOY ONE LEVEL LIVING in this very special lakehome on 1.75 acres of complete privacy! 9' ceilings,exposed beams, 3 BR/3BAs on main, 2BRs/1BA onterrace level. 3 FPs, screened porch. Very gradual lot& always deep water. Covered boat dock. Call Patti.

$849,000

$465,000 $365,000

A VERY SPECIAL HOME overflowing with customfeatures. Everything on one level plus unfinishedpartial basement. Gentle walk to single sip coveredboat dock. Great Room w/fp & built-ins, updatedkitchen & baths, lots of HW floors. Back porch and2 decks. Professionally decorated and it shows.You must see inside! Call Patti.

$389,500 $374,500

THE LAKE PROPERTY YOU’VE ALWAYS DREAMED

OF MAY NOW BE AFFORDABLE ... CALL US!

GREAT HOME ON LANIER. Always deep water! Veryprivate in cul-de-sac and acres of corps property onsides. Gorgeous kitchen w/granite Awesome mas-ter bath. 2fps, tall ceilings & lots of windows. Singleslip dock w/party deck. Call Patti.

$515,000

WWW.PATTICHAMBERS.COM

Patti Chambers c 770.287.4879 • Bobby Chambers c 770.654.0533 • Sally Chambers Kirchner c 770.538.5626 Patsy Mercer c 770.540.6507 • Beverly O. Filson c 678.897.9578 • Office 770.538.4002

SOLD

ON THE BANKS OF THE CHESTATEE RIVER. Fishin your backyard year round. This stately brickhome is sited on 4+ beautifully wooded acresw/awesome sounds of the shoals & breathtakingviews of the river. Private & gated as it is situat-ed at the end of the cul-de-sac. Serene pond,walking trails, cutting gardens, gorgeous nativelandscaping plus a granite cliff borders the otherside of the river. Call Patti.

$1,295,000

AN EXTRAORDINARY PRIVATE 4.74 ACRES onLake Lanier. Deep water, This property is being soldas one tract yet there are 2 beautiful sites for homesand 2 docks in place. Over 1,000 feet on the water.Very Gentle terrain with fantastic views!

$900,000

NEWLISTING!

NEWLISTING!

February 2012 LAKESIDE 5

The Norton Agency 434 Green Street, Gainesville, GA 30501

770.536.1250THE POWER TO PERFORM

IMPECCABLE CRAFTSMAN LAKE HOME WITH TWIN SLIP PERMIT! SOLD FULLY FUR-NISHED! Forsyth County, shows brand new. Vaulted T & G ceiling, stone FP, customkitchen, finished terrace level with gentle walk to dock! Chestatee Bay area. Excellent con-dition. 9925 JERNIGAN DR., GAINESVILLE (FORSYTH) FMLS#4218332

RESORT LIVING WITH PRIVATE DOCK IN CHESTATEE! Magnificent 5BR craftsman lakefront home. Level walk to s-slip partydock! Amazing quality and detail. Vaulted ceilings, tongue and groove, open plan with custom cabinetry. Screened porch w/FP.Finished terrace level with bar, fitness rm, guest suite. All the bells and whistles in a great lake home, and a minute from the golfcourse! New price. 130 HOLLY DRIVE, DAWSONVILLE FMLS#4225719

STUNNING LAKE ESTATE IN LUXURY GATED NEIGHBORHOOD WITH PRIVATE DEEP WATER TWIN SLIP DOCK! Amazing value with 6BR/6.5B with finished terrace level withcustom bar, game room, wine cellar, wine bar, 2nd master, PLUS gunite pool & spa overlooking the lake! 4174 CUMBERLAND DR., GAINESVILLE

$1,200,000

RENOVATIONS COMPLETE! IDEAL LAKE SETTING AND LOCATION ON SOUTH LAKE IN CUMMING! Huge privacy and beautifulyear round south lake views! 5BR/4.5BAs. Three finished levels. 32x32 party dock on deep water area of Young Deer Creek andPilgrim Mill Rd. 5BR/4.5BA. 3940 TAMIAMI TRAIL, CUMMING 30041 FMLS#4080051

$1,299,000

770-235-6907 • sdavis@nortonnorthga.com

Don’t Miss Out on the Best Lake Market in Years!

PREMIER HARBOUR POINT MODEL HOME WITH LAKE VIEWS & BOAT SLIP OPTION!Three finished levels of luxury appointments for entertaining! Fabulous terrace level w/inlaw suite, fitness, billiards room. Big lot. Was $1.2M, REDUCED for quick sell.3314 HARBOUR POINT PRKY, GAINESVILLE FMLS#4043450

$799,000

NORTH HALL LAKE HOME! GREAT VIEWS, GENTLE TOPO ANDDEEP WATER DOCK! Fabulous 4BR/3.5B on finished terracelevel w/sunroom and screened porch. 3 car garage. Tons of priva-cy and parking! Single slip in place, but upgradable to twin slipdock. Close to I-985, Lakeview Academy and hospitals. 3342

WILKERSON, GAINESVILLE

$769,000

CHARMING COTTAGE with 4BR/3B and private s-slip dock!3545 MILL LANE

$299,000

PENDING!

PENDING!

$339,000

NOW ACCEPTING NEW LISTINGS. CALL ME TODAY!

Sheila Davis

www.LakeLaniersFinest.com

GREAT LAKE VIEWS AND DEEP WATER! GET-A-WAY TO THE LAKE IN THIS CHARMING2BR COTTAGE SO CLOSE TO THE WATER WITH TWIN SLIP DOCK PERMIT! Boathousein place, new paint in and out, and carpet. Basement for expansion! FMLS# 4267857

WIDE OPEN VIEWS AND GRASS TO WATER ON PEACEFUL NORTH END!! INCRED-IBLE!! Charming and well maintained 3BR cottage with twin slip aluminum partydock! 946 LIBERTY CHURCH, DAWSONVILLE FMLS# 4305845

$475,000

A LAKE HOUSE WITH ROOM FOR EVERY-ONE! GREAT SOUTH LOCATION and LAKEVIEWS! Three finished levels. Separate apart-ment. S-Slip DEEP water. Two kitchens &laundries, 3 screened porches. Orig price$719,000. 7BR/5B. 4709 VIRGINIA ST., OAKWOOD, 30566 FMLS# 4259974

$649,000

COZY AND UPDATED 3/2 COTTAGE IN NORTH HALL CLARKSBRIDGE AREA! GRASS TO WATER & PRIVATE SETTING. S-slip dock and screened porch! 3569 STANCIL RD,

GAINESVILLE 30506 FMLS# 4254736

REDUCED! $299,000

$1,350,000 - REDUCED FROM $1,697,000

$599,000

CHARMING LAKEFRONT HOME IN ‘CHESTATEE’ WITH PRIVATES-SLIP DOCK! Great lake views and drought proof water.4BR/3.5B with open plan, upgraded great room, sunroom,Finished terrace level with BR/B and game room. Private set-ting close to golf and GA Outlets! 120 HOLLY DR,

DAWSNVILLE 30534 FMLS# 4297665

$299,000

PICTURESQUE INCREDIBLE DEEP WATER LOT WITH FANTASTIC YEAR ROUND VIEWS!ENJOY CABIN NOW, OR BUILD! Single slip dock. DEEP water. 9335 LONG HOLLOW,

GAINESVILLE, FORSYTH COUNTY 30506 FMLS# 4294965

$595,000

6 LAKESIDE February 2012

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2003 32’ Party CruiserEnclosure, Air & Mercruiser 3.0L

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1980 Lazy Days Sportsman 50Flybridge & Twin Engines

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2003 Four Winns 268 VistaRoomy Loaded Trailerable 28’

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2004 Harris Flotebote 27’ Tri-Toon200hp 4 Stroke w/Frig & Micro

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1986 Bayliner 25509’6” Beam w/Air, Gen & Trailer

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Time to map out your spring fishing strategyOK, I know that it’s still Feb-

ruary, a lot of us have not beenfishing through the winter andwe’re ready to go. Things start tohappen in late February and it’stime to map out your spring timestrategy. This month’s article willfocus on a few things you can doto be prepared and some of thepatterns you’ll not want to missout on.

If you’ve not devoted any timeto tackle maintenance since lastfall (or longer) now is the time totake care of business. Nearlyeveryone has a reel or two thatisn’t working as well as it should,but does not quite warrant dis-carding. As a result, the reel gath-ers dust. This is a great time totake it to your local tackle shopfor repair. In my experience,tackle repair facilities areslammed when nice springweather breaks and it pays to beahead of the curve. Any shop youdeal with should contact you toprovide a price quote before pro-ceeding with repair. Most repairsinvolve cleaning and a nominalfee is typically charged for thisservice. Getting an older reel upto speed doesn’t cost much com-pared to a new purchase.

On that subject, this month is a

great time to purchase that newreel as major retailers launchspring sale events. One local re-tailer offers a fantastic trade inprogram that gives you credit forolder reels in working condition.The trade reels are donated to theDNR and given to kids at fishingrodeos all over the state. What’snot to like about that? If you’venot replaced the line on all yourreels, go ahead and get it done. Iam a big fan of stripping half theline off reels and splicing in newproduct. This saves money andthat’s a good thing. But, it’s worthnoting that most bass fishing reelswill serve double duty forstripers. Be sure to strip all theline off these and replace with100 percent new product. As anongoing practice, it’s safe to re-place half the spool but I recom-mend getting a fresh start everythree months or so.

If your tackle storage systemdoes not look like a system, reor-ganization is the order of the day.Clean up, and get rid of old stuff.Sell things you don’t use at yourspring yard sale or give items tokids who love to fish.

Get ready for crappieAfter observing behavior in a

tackle shop for 16 years, I can tellyou that crappie fishermen are thefirst to wake up for spring withgood reason. This time of year,the crappie section is often filledwith customers selecting leadheads, miniature plastic baits, andeverything else it takes to reel inthese tasty panfish. Crappie fish-ing can get hot in the middle ofFebruary and should be “on” bythe end of the month. I’m refer-ring to the pre-spawn phase whenthese fish congregate in large con-centrations under boat docks.Savvy anglers target these schoolswith tiny tube jigs. One and a halfinch models are the most popular.These are rigged on lead headswith typical weights of 1/32nd to1/16th ounce. Use the lightestweight you can get away with. Aslow fall is the key to success.One way to up the weight someand still achieve a slower fall is torig two lighter baits in tandem

with one a foot to 18 inches aheadof another. The additional plasticbody provides some resistanceand slows the overall rate of de-scent. Tried and true colors in-clude chartreuse sparkle, black/chartreuse, rootbeer, and ofcourse, blue/white. There’ssomething about the blue bodywith white tail that crappie reallyseem to like. This can be a hardcolor to find; it’s often sold out.Again, it pays to get your shop-ping done before it’s time to gofishing.

Ultralight rod and reel combi-nations are the order of the daywhen hitting the boat docks forcrappie. Four- to six-pound testline pairs well on these rigs. It’sworth noting that you will get aslightly slower fall on six-poundtest line which has a greater di-ameter than four-pound test. Castyour Crappie tubes around docksup in the creeks. Get your bait asclose to the dock as possible andkeep a tight line on the fall. Thisis when most strikes occur. Thesefish will lock in at certain depths.Once the strike zone is estab-lished, you can quickly rule outdocks that don’t have enoughwater under them. I’ve heardtales of anglers having great suc-

cess with side imaging depthfinders cruising dock fronts withthe electric motor and only stop-ping at the ones where schools ofcrappie are spotted.

Feed them a McStickFor the most part, February is

still a deep water game for thebass fisherman. Drop shotting,dragging jigs, and jigging spoonsare all go to methods and cer-tainly produce a large share of theaction. However, things can beginto quicken in the latter half of themonth. February weather is oftenfickle and an arctic blast is cer-tainly not out of the question.February weather can also bemild with pleasant and sunny af-ternoons. If the weather has beenstable and mild, think about jerkbaits. These can be very effectivewhen presented in a methodicalmanner points with an abundanceof rock or wood cover. Of course,I’m referring to suspending jerk-baits. The water is still cold andthese neutral buoyancy lures re-semble sluggish baitfish and nei-ther sink nor float upward whenpaused during a retrieve. TheMcStick by Spro has gained agreat reputation in these parts as ahighly effective cold water jerk

TommyWilkinson

CastingLanier

See Fishing, page 7

February 2012 LAKESIDE 7

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bait. You’ll find other models by Smith-witk, Rapala, and Lucky Craft. The lattercompany produces the Stay-See which is asuper choice. Be sure to fish these withfrequent and long pauses during the re-trieve. In Missouri where cold water jerkbait fishing has evolved into an art form,pauses of up to a full minute are not un-heard of. Into March, focus more andmore attention to points in the creeks.When the willow trees green up, you’llfind pre-spawn bass staging under boatdocks. They can be caught by a variety ofmethods. They often suspend so it’s im-portant to experiment with different depthsuntil you establish a pattern. If you wantto have some real fun this spring, take aweek of vacation just before the full moonin April. It falls on the 21st this year. Bar-ring a major cold front, bass will be invad-ing their spawning areas in huge numbersall over the lake. The target depth is threeto eight feet. Cover as much water as pos-sible and you should have some memo-rable days and a sore thumb from liplanding lots of fish. Small plastic baitsand in line spinners are both good to bringin big numbers. Medium action spinningtackle paired with eight-pound test line isa good presentation tool. This is a greattime to get family members or friendshooked on fishing.

Stripers on the flyNo article on early spring fishing in our

lake would be complete without a para-graph on striped bass. These gamefish areactually predators of the sea that becamelandlocked sometime in the ’50s era. Theythrived in South Carolina impoundmentswhere this occurred and with time werestocked in many reservoirs across the U.S.They were initially cut off from salt waterduring spawning runs up freshwater rivers.Our population of linesides still tries tomake the annual spawning run. The differ-ence is that in our reservoir, they migrateup into the creeks and upper river systems.This usually begins in early March. You’vealready guessed that this is a great time tobe on the water. The false spawn is a phe-nomenon that takes place all over the lake.Drifting live bait and casting artificials areboth keys to success.

At this time of the year, fish will ven-ture far up into tributaries. Lively blueback herring will draw a lot of strikes. Rigthese on flat lines trailed 50 to 100 feet be-hind the boat depending on shoreline con-tours. The use of planer boards will helpto get baits close in to the shoreline.Stripers often prowl close in at this time ofthe year. While letting live baits worktheir magic, you should be casting towardthe shoreline. Lures of choice include softplastic fluke type baits. The Super Flukeby Zoom is always a great choice in thewhite pearl or albino color. Bucktail jigs

See Fishing, page 14

Lanier Fishing Report• FishingContinued from Page 6

Lake level: Approximately 1062 or nine feet below full pool.Surface Temp: Just over 50 degrees – several degrees warmer than average for thistime of year.Clarity: Normal. Clear in main lake areas with a little color in the uppermost areasof tributaries.Bass fishing has been good for numbers and size. Anglers have been boating quite afew spotted bass over the four-pound mark lately. At this time, you can take yourpick and fish deep or shallow. Shallow patterns equate to depths of three to 20 feetof water while the deep patterns are typically targeting fish that are holding 35 feet ordeeper. Yes, some fish are also being caught between 20 and 35 feet deep. Just cast abait out there somewhere and it might get bit. Whether you’re fishing shallow ordeep, have one rod rigged with a finesse style worm rigged on a lead head. Greenpumpkin is always a fine color. When it comes to the lead head, 3/16th ounce is agreat all around choice. Anglers having shallow success are targeting points andpockets in the creeks. The most productive areas have cover such as brush or stumpsand large rock. And, don’t forget that boat docks are always good for attracting fish.Aside from plastics, medium running crankbaits and suspending jerkbaits have beenyielding good action. Remember to keep retrieves slow. On the deep end, ShakeyHead Rigs, skirted jigs with Fat Albert Twin Tail trailers, and lighter spoons havebeen producing. At these depths, you’ll want to target submerged timber. The edgesof timber lines and isolated patches or large trees are the most productive areas.Quality electronics, good scouting skills, and a measure of patience are all necessaryto pinpoint deep water honey holes that consistently produce this time of year. Striper fishing has also been good lately. Linesides are being caught both up anddown the lake. This is the time of year to think about the upper portions of creeksand pockets. Trolling lighter weight umbrella rigs armed with bucktail jigs has beena productive tactic. This holds especially true if you do not have any scoop on areasthat are worth your time and effort. Live bait has been a big producer lately. Smallertrout or herring dropped to about 30 feet off points will get the right attention ifgamefish are present. When you’re getting well up into the creeks, trail these baits onflat lines about a hundred feet behind the boat and cast bucktail jigs with trailers orplastic fluke type baits (with or without lead heads) all the way up to the bank.It’s worth noting that the use of planer boards will at least double the potential forbaited lines in use and facilitate getting baits closer to the bank where stripers cruisethis time of year.

8 LAKESIDE February 2012

February 2012 LAKESIDE 9

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10 LAKESIDE February 2012

ENJOY SAFE

BOATING

ON THE LAKE!

RoyCrittenden

USCGAuxiliary

USCGA seeks more boats, instructors and staffNow that the 2012 Atlanta

Boat Show is over, and reportshave it that a lot of boats weresold by local dealers, the U.S.Coast Guard Auxiliary would liketo invite the boat owners to con-sider joining the Auxiliary andusing your boat performing safetyand regatta patrols on LakesLanier and Allatoona, dependingon where you choose to do yourboating. You can become “crew”and/or “coxswain” trained, andthe Coast Guard will reimburseyou for fuel used performing yourpatrols, usually four hours inlength.

Flotilla 29, U.S. Coast GuardAuxiliary, performs routine safetyand regatta patrols on LakeLanier from mid-May throughSeptember, weekends and holi-days, and other flotillas operateon other lakes throughout thestate of Georgia. While we oper-ate our own vessels, we are underCoast Guard orders while on pa-trol and operate as a Coast Guardvessel, showing CG Auxiliarysignboards and flying the “opera-tional facility” flag. Due to retire-ments, and some membersexperiencing job transfers out ofthe area, we are in need of addi-tional power driven vessels to

perform our routine patrols. The Auxiliary also maintains

an “Operations Center” at Lanierwith VHF radios monitoring com-munications on the lake. A quali-fied “radio watchstander” mansthe radios during patrol hours. Tobecome qualified as a watch-stander, the member must standwatch with a qualified watch-stander before assuming the re-sponsibility alone. Individualswith amateur radio experience area good fit for this job, but it’s notnecessary.

Since supporting recreationalboating safety is a major functionof the Coast Guard Auxiliary,holding safe boating courses forthe public is a regular and yearround activity of the Auxiliary.Many of our certified instructorshave had a teaching backgroundor have had experience runningbusiness meetings where they

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have had the opportunity to leaddiscussions, etc. To become an in-structor, a member must pass the“Instructor” exam, for whichthere is a study manual.

The USCGA is the civilian,uniformed volunteer componentof the United States Coast Guard,as well as the lead volunteer forceof the Department of HomelandSecurity. Founded in 1939, by theAct of congress as the U.S. CoastGuard Reserves and re-designatedthe Auxiliary in 1941. The 36,000members, men and women, do-nate thousands of hours in sup-port of the Coast Guard andMaritime Domain Awareness mis-sions, such as Search and Rescue,Public Education and Marine En-vironmental Protection. Since9/11, the Auxiliary has assumedmany of the responsibilities andduties previously done by theCoast Guard, especially aroundcoastal areas where the CoastGuard has a presence. The Auxil-iary does not perform law en-forcement, that’s left to the Ga.Department of Natural Resources,or military activities, both ofwhich are left to the Coast Guardin areas where they operate.

Auxiliary membership is anexcellent way to perform a real

service for our country, meet andwork with fine people with an in-terest in boating, and have a good

time while doing it.Roy Crittenden is the Public

Affairs Officer for Flotilla 29.

MORE INFO: 770-393-4382 • alcrit@mindspring.comFlotilla 29 Lake Lanier • http://a0700209.uscgaux.info

Safe boating course set for March 10Flotilla 29 of the U.S. Coast

Guard Auxiliary, Lake Lanier,announces a one-day, seven-les-son “About Boating Safely”course. The course is scheduledfor Saturday, March 10, 2012.This course also serves as aPWC certified course for chil-dren under the age of 16. Thiscourse will be given at the CoastGuard Auxiliary OperationsCenter, 6595 Lights Ferry Rd.,Flowery Branch, Ga., on the leftjust before the entrance to Aqua-land Marina.

Classes run from 8:30 a.m.

until 4:30 p.m. and cost is $40.Discounts available for addi-tional family members.

Course contents include:• Know your boat• Before getting underway• Navigating the waterways• Operating your vessel safely• Boating’s legal requirements• Boating emergencies• Enjoying watersports• Georgia boating laws

Successful completion of thiscourse may result in a reductionin your boat’s insurance pre-mium.

MORE INFO: Dave Wall, Public Education Officer, Flotilla 29 • 770 904-6340 • auxiliaryclass@bellsouth.net

February 2012 LAKESIDE 11

$64,000 Investor or owner/occupant! Greatlocation & approx. 1.21 park likeacres w/ double wide manufac-tured home. 3 BR/ 2 BA, LRfrplc, deck, screened porch,fenced area in yard.

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$348,000 Great Lake-Custom brick house,not lake front. 2 Stry with grt. rmw/ frplc.3 BR/ 2.5 BA, mstr onmain, sunroom w/lake views.Sep.din. rm, 2 car garage & boat doorQuality thru-out, close to Hwy 400- boat ramp.

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$849,900 Stunning lake home, best locationnear GA 400. Single slip dock,deep water, 4 BR/5 BA, Fin.Basement, level lot, pretty view,easy walk to shore. Open floorplan, 3 car garage. A Must See!

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$424,900 GRAND CASCADES - 5 BR/4BA w/full daylight bsmt. Guestroom & bath on main level, newpaint. Huge 1.31 acre homesite w/level rear yard. Large bedrooms,stained cabinets, 2 car garage.

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$1,150,000 Feels like Yellowstone Park inNorth Ga. Mountains. Lodge stylehm on 5 acre estate lot w/ 1700 ft.of Etowah River front. Multipledecks overlook the river, 5 cargarages, 2 bdrm guest house.

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$575,000 TODAY'S MARKET PRICING!35+ Acres, 5 BR/ 4 BA homew/fenced pastures, 7 stall barn w/loft & bath, pole barn, 3 acre lake.Western Lumpkin County. Veryprivate location.

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$424,800 Live at the lake! Enjoy a resortlifestyle in this Lake Lanier com-munity w/golf course. 4 BR/3.5BA with all the bells and whistles.Courtyard fireplace, 2 bedroomseach with bath on main level.

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$629,000 St. Michael's Bay - 5 BR/5.5 BA w/ 3 car garage, master on main with 2 custom clos-ets. Huge open dream kitchen, screened porch, large secondary bedrooms. Full basementwith finished bath. Many other custom features including large deck. Boat slip in deepwater included.

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12 LAKESIDE February 2012

February 2012 LAKESIDE 13

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By Pamela A. KeeneAutomated touchless boat covers have

come to Lake Lanier. Semi-retired CraigGrier recently launched Touchless BoatCovers as the exclusive dealer for Hall,Forsyth and Gwinnett counties.

The water always had a special appealto Grier, who grew up in Seattle andboated on Lake Washington as youngster.“My father co-signed for my first boatwhen I was 14 years old,” he said. “It wasa 14-footer, but from then on I’ve hadboating in my blood.”

When he moved east to Atlanta for ajob in the carpet business, Grier purchaseda weekend home on Lake Lanier. Twoyears retired from the medical division ofan electronics company; he and his wifehad been living on Lanier full-time for awhile. He said he has owned all kinds ofboats, from houseboats to jet skis. He cur-rently owns a 27-foot Cobalt boat.

“My neighbor installed one of theseTouchless Boat Covers and showed mehow it works,” Grier said. “I was lookingfor something to do and this seemed like agood business opportunity. I have a blackboat and I can’t tell you the amount oftime and money I’ve spent waxing it twicea year to keep it looking good.”

Grier researched the company andfound that purchasing and installing the re-mote-controlled weather-resistant coverson most boats costs a little less than justthe installation cost of a boat lift.

Each cover is custom-made of marine-grade galvanized heavy-duty steel frame.Covers can be made to fit boats up to 50feet long; the covers have been tested inwinds of up to 140 miles per hour. The re-mote operates from as far away as 400feet. It takes less than 30 seconds to raiseor lower the cover. The design is adaptableto a wide variety of dock situations. Grierhas received approval from the Corps ofEngineers to install them on the lake.

Grier takes measurements and workswith owners to select fabric colors. Thenhe sends an estimate. From the time the es-timate is approved, installation can becomplete in two to three weeks. “If you’reprotecting your boat from the water whenyou’re not using it, it makes sense to pro-tect the rest of the boat from the elements,”he said. “It keeps out the rain and sunlight,plus it’s also good security.”

Touchless boat covers come to Lanier

14 LAKESIDE February 2012

• FishingContinued from Page 7

weighing in at 3/8th ounce orlighter tipped with soft plastictrailers are also staple choices forcasting success at this time ofyear. By the way, if you’ve al-ways wanted to tangle with astriped bass using a fly rod, this isa great time to give it a try.Choose a rod designed to handlea seven or eight weight line. Thereel should have the capacity tostore at least 100 yards of back-ing. A weight forward floatingline works fine with a seven toeight foot leader. Tie on aweighted streamer that resemblesa small shad or herring. Duringlow water periods (key for thebackcast), I have actually walkedthe banks at dawn near boatramps and caught stripers on my

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fly rod. Give it a shot. It’s greatfun.

In closing, we’ve all got theitch. It’s time to get ready and getout there. Until next month, besafe out there and enjoy the lake!

Tommy Wilkinson is a veteranof the fishing industry and residesin Jefferson, GA.

Atlanta Boat Show best in four yearsBy Pamela A. Keene

Big boats, fishing for littlepeople and fairly good weathermade for a successful AtlantaBoat Show in January. More than24,000 boat and fishing enthusi-asts flocked to the Georgia WorldCongress Center for the four-dayshow that’s become a winter-timetradition in Atlanta.

“The Atlanta Boat Show cele-brated its 50th year and the showturned out great,” said LarryBerryman with the National Ma-rine Management Association,which organized the show on be-half of the Marine Trade Associa-tion of Metropolitan Atlanta.“Hundreds of boats of all makesand sizes were sold at the show,and consumers came out onceagain to see the wide variety ofproducts and services available atthis year’s event.”

The 300,000-square-foot showhall was filled with 160 ex-hibitors. Singleton Marine Grouphad the largest floor space. Ma-rine Max brought the largest boat– a 45-foot Sea Ray SedanBridge, which was sold duringthe show.

Visitors attended seminars,fishing demonstrations and infor-mation sessions. Perhaps the mostpopular event was the catch-and-release trout fishing pond foryoungsters.

Of course one of the mosttalked about events wasn’tplanned: the large water pool thatleaked during the first day of theshow. While no one was injuredand very little damage was re-ported, the show was delayed forfive hours.

“The Powerboat DockingChallenge was really fun, and ofcourse, visitors always enjoy see-ing the big boats and taking sometime to look at all the new prod-ucts,” Berryman said. “We lookforward to seeing everyone againnext year from January 10-13,2013.”

Fishing show a success Although it was right on the

heels of the Atlanta boat Show,area anglers had a taste of bothsalt- and fresh-water fishing at thesecond annual Great SouthernFishing Show at the North AtlantaTrade Center. The event includedfly-fishing, shallow-water, salt-water and fresh-water gear andseminars.

“We were amazed at the num-ber of people who came in bring-ing the seminar schedules from

the website,” said Rhonda Sodelwith the North Atlanta Trade Cen-ter. “They came to learn about allkinds of fishing.”

The show’s 75 exhibitors fo-cused on fishing – from salt-waterto fresh.

“Our attendance was up 30percent over last year,” Sodelsaid. “We expanded the show thisyear to include more differentkinds of fishing, including salt-water, and people seemed to re-ally like the show’s content andexhibits.”

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PHOTOS BY ALAN HOPE

February 2012 LAKESIDE 15

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LAKE LANIER OLYMPIC VENUE

CAUTIONZONE

N

LAKE LANIER OLYMPIC VENUE INFOHere's a profile and calendar for the two clubs operating at the LakeLanier Olympic Venue:

Lake Lanier Rowing ClubContact: John MartinierePhone: 770-287-0077Email: LLRC@mindspring.comAddress: Lake Lanier Olympic Venue3105 Clarks Bridge Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506Website: www.LakeLanierRowing.orgClub offerings: Recreational and competitive rowing for ages 13to 80+. Beginner to elite offered through regularly scheduled prac-tices, classes, and camps hosting of local, regional, national and in-ternational rowing regattas.Calendar of events: (complete list on website)

Feb.-March - Collegiate Crew Spring TrainingMarch 24 - John Hunter RegattaMarch 25 - Lanier Sprints RegattaMay 26-27 - ACRA National Championship

Lake Lanier Canoe and Kayak ClubContact: Office Administrator Brenda Miller,LCKC President Doug SmithPhone: 770-287-7888Fax: 770-287-3444Email: info@lckc.orgWebsite: www.lckc.orgAddress: Lake Lanier Olympic Venue3105 Clarks Bridge Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506Club offerings: Recreational and competitive canoe and kayakingfor ages 12 and up. Beginner to masters programs offered throughregularly scheduled practices, classes, and summer camps. Alsohosts local, regional, national and international competitions.Calendar of events: (complete list on website)

March 17 - Lula Bridge RaceMarch 19 - BBI Spring League Parents MeetingMarch 26-May 12 - BBI Spring SeasonApril 28 - BBI Spring Race

Venue seats about 2,000 with parking capacity of about 400 cars.The boathouse and tower are available to rent for meetings and spe-cial occasions.

Collegiate crews head to LanierUniversity of Virginia crew first to get oars wet

By Jane HarrisonThe University of Virginia crew brought its

largest contingent ever to Lake Lanier in January forwinter break practice. The 65-member squad wasthe first of about 15 collegiate crews heading forLake Lanier for pre-season conditioning.

Crews coming in February and March hail from“from as far away as Lucan, Ontario, Canada andMaine, and many places in between, bringing over750 rowers,” said Lake Lanier Rowing Club Vice-President John Ferriss. Collegiate crews from icynorthern waters have flocked to the Georgia lake forwinter and spring season training since 1996 whenOlympic rowing events drew international attentionto Lanier.

LLRC touts Lake Lanier and its Olympic Venueas the perfect training destination for rowing teamsdue to miles of rowable waters on the sprawlingNorth Georgia lake and the facilities at the Olympicvenue boathouse.

But those are not the only qualities that attractcollegiate teams back to Lanier year after year. Uni-versity of Virginia director of rowing and men’shead coach Frank Biller said that the “magic of anOlympic venue is key” to alluring athletes to Lanier.“You can sense it when you enter the (boathouse),”he said. But there are other factors, including foodand hospitality, that keep crews coming back.

During their January 6-15 trip to Gainesville,Biller’s staff and rowers stayed at a local hotel anddined at Brenau University. Athletes crosstrained atthe Francis Meadows Aquatic Center and shoppedin local stores.

“As usual we had a great time in Gainesville andtraining was very productive, Biller said in an emailafter returning to Charlottesville, Va. “Unlike in thepast two years, it was quite warm and the absence ofice and snow was not missed. As usual we stayed atthe Guesthouse Inn & Suites (formerly Days Inn)where the owner Jay Singh has again been an out-standing host. Jay’s hotel is also our headquarterswhen we roll back into town in May for our nationalchampionship regatta.”

“Of course, food is very important as you canimagine as the guys need to refuel around 4,000calories per day. The dining hall at Brenau Univer-sity has been our place of choice for years as theirteam does an outstanding job tending to all ourneeds,” he said.

He added, “Lake Lanier Rowing Club and of

course John Ferriss are very hospitable to us. Theydon’t make us feel at home, they make it our home.The town and community are also very welcoming.Meghan Hill the director at the Aquatic Center al-ways makes sure we get our swimming crosstrain-ing in. People in local stores sometimes recognizeus and make us feel welcome; it’s really a great ex-perience.”

“All these things add up to us wanting to comeback every year, despite having other options andinvitations, we just know what we get inGainesville. So we play it safe,” Biller said.

Ferriss, who went out on the lake with the Vir-ginia athletes for a practice, observed “they had amuch better time this year. No ice on the water,plenty of days with little or no wind. There was onewindy rough day but they took advantage of it to dosome indoor activities,” he said.

Ferris reported in late January that the nextcrews scheduled are from Brandeis University, inMassachusetts, and the University of Western On-tario, arriving Feb. 18 and 19.

Rowing regattas in March and May are expectedto draw thousands of athletes and spectators to theOlympic venue. The John Hunter Regatta, a largescholastic regatta hosted by St. Andrews RowingClub and Georgia Tech on March 24, will show theoutcome of pre-season and early season practices.Some teams will stay over for a second day of com-petition in the Lanier Sprints Regatta, hosted byLLRC March 25.

The collegiate season finale, the American Col-legiate Rowing Association National Champi-onship, is set for May 26-27. The University ofVirginia Varsity 8 Men’s crew will be looking to re-peat their victory over last year’s favorite, the Uni-versity of Michigan in the last race of thechampionship.

University of Virginia rowers stroke during a mistymorning practice on Lake Lanier in January.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VIRGINIA ROWING ASSOCIATION

University of Virginia crew members prepare tolaunch from the boat docks at the OlympicVenue during winter practice last month.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VIRGINIA ROWING ASSOCIATION

February 2012 LAKESIDE 17

Commission denies Oakwood annexation to lake requestBy Jane Harrison

The City of Oakwood will pur-sue other links to Lake Lanierafter the Hall County Commis-sion’s denial of its request toannex county roads leading to thelake. Commissioners on Jan. 26unanimously voted down a pro-posal by the South Hall city toannex county roads that the citysought to gain lake access. Com-missioner Ashley Bell was notpresent. The decision came in apacked meeting room at the Geor-gia Mountain Center where morethan 75 attendees stood to demon-strate their opposition to the pro-posal.

“If you go out into neighbor-hoods, you would find tremen-dous opposition to this,” saidByers Road resident CharlesMcKinney, who likened the pro-posed annexation to a back stab.“It’s an effort by government togain people to get power withoutrepresentation,” he said.

Applause followed his com-ments and those of six others who

voiced opposition of neighbor-hood associations along FlatCreek, Mountain View, andStephens roads, three main thor-oughfares sought in the annexa-tion proposal.

Homeowners representing as-sociations at Hidden Harbors,Pointe South and Timber Crestcited concerns about potential un-wanted development, police tick-eting, and big government in whatthey called an attempted “landgrab” by the city of Oakwood.Most said they were uninformedabout Oakwood’s intentions andwere apprehensive about how thecity could change their communi-ties in unincorporated HallCounty.

Henry Lewis, from PointeSouth, said residents’ attendanceshowed “the depth of animosity”caused by the annexation request.“The city already has lake accessthrough public ramps andbeaches,” he said. Citizens in un-incorporated areas are concernedabout taxes, potential impact fees,

and (Oakwood) police that are notregarded with favor” in SouthHall.

Prior to citizens’ comments,Oakwood City Manager StanBrown told commissioners hesubmitted the annexation pro-posal as part of a framework forthe city to achieve its Oakwood2030 Vision, which includes mar-keting Oakwood as a Lanier com-munity and developing walkingtrails and passive recreation facil-ities on the lake. He said annexa-tion of county roads wouldprovide a path for logical growthand unify a city limit interspersedwith unincorporated Hall Countyjurisdictions.

Brown drafted the annexationresolution in the aftermath of twotown hall meetings in Novemberwhich drew fewer than 20 people.Information about the meetings,which focused on linking the laketo Oakwood, was advertised inlocal media advertisements andnews accounts. Brown said thecity sent notices to more than1,800 South Hall addresses. Noone attending the town hall meet-ings indicated opposition to an-nexation.

However, after homeowner as-

sociations spread news about po-tential annexation, a groundswellof opposition arose in the form ofemails and phone calls to com-missioners and public comment ata commissioners’ work sessionthree nights before the boardmeeting.

A meeting Brown arrangedwith homeowners’ associationsthe night before the commissionvote did not do enough to assuagetheir concerns. “It was a produc-tive meeting providing the foun-dation for further collaborativediscussion” toward Oakwood’s2030 goals, said Timber Creekresident George Ordway. But, headded that residents needed to“see something much more con-crete” about the city’s ultimategoals for development of lakeproperty.

Commissioner Billy Powell,whose district includes a sectionof South Hall, made the motion todeny the annexation proposal.“It’s a small city that has ambi-tious plans. Hats off to them forpursuing their 2030 long rangeplans … but I take pride in repre-senting the wishes of con-stituents,” he said.

Commissioner Craig Lutz,

who seconded the motion, saidthat his action reflected the willof the people. But, he commentedthat municipalities, such as Oak-wood, generally have a higherstandard for developments thancounties. “I am concerned thatlandowners could come to thecommission and have somethingbuilt that is way lower than (Oak-wood’s) standards,” he said.

After the meeting, OakwoodManager Brown said the citywould continue to seek a link tothe lake via annexation. Thecounty’s denial of road annexa-tion nixed Oakwood’s initialcourse of action, but Oakwoodcan take other routes, he said.These include annexation of spe-cific properties and annexationthrough community engagement.Each would require a piecemealapproach to obtain propertiesconnecting the city limits to thelake. Brown indicated that al-though the outcome of the com-mission meetings was not what hesought, he anticipates further “en-gagement with the public” aboutcoming into the city.

“Our vision doesn’t stop. Wecan pursue other options,” hesaid.

Lakeside on Lanierwww.lakesidenews.com

18 LAKESIDE February 2012

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20 LAKESIDE February 2012

Boat show began with a splash and finished with successThe boat show started with a

splash, and finished with a suc-cess. The wakeboard pool had amajor malfunction and about100,000 gallons of water cas-caded down the aisles of theshow. After removing wet carpetand drying the floors, a few boatswere damaged but there were noinjuries. The show got back tonormal late Thursday. I talkedwith many visitors and exhibitorswho all thought it was a greatshow. Some said it was the bestin the past five years. Exhibitorssaid a lot of boats were sold,which shows maybe our economymight be changing. We shall see.

Missed resolutionMy January column had New

Year’s resolutions for boaters, butI find in review that I missed animportant one. Keep our watersand shores clean. In other words,dispose of your trash properly, ina garbage bag that goes ashorewith you to be disposed of prop-erly and not overboard to polluteour waters and litter our shores.

Many of you might rememberseveral years back an advertise-ment against littering. It showed anative American viewing a lit-tered shore with tears going downhis face. One native Americanproverb states “We will be knownforever by the tracks we leave.”Another says, “We do not inheritthe land from our ancestors, weborrow it from our children.”Keep these proverbs in mind andpractice clean boating. Maybe thenext lake shore clean-up will beless than the year before.

Hydra-SpyderYou may remember from years

ago a car you could drive down aboat ramp and use it as a boat.Here comes the next version, onlythis one is definitely more power-ful and performance oriented. TheHydra-Spyder is powered by aCorvette LS-2 6.0 liter V-8 ratedat 400 hp and has a five-speedmanual transmission. The hullpart has 5052 alloy aluminumplate for lower hull construction.The upper body is light weightfiberglass. A Berkley Marine jetwith power trim package providesthe marine part of the package.

The vehicle contains positiveflotation foam approved by theU.S. Coast Guard for amphibiousvehicles. The Spyder seats fourpeople and can easily tow awater-skier. Base price is$155.000 with an impressive listof extras.

They also manufacture theHydra-Terra commercial tour ve-

cent on insurance of the boat youpurchase. They also will inspectyour boat and give you a sticker.

Costa Concordia The cruise ship disaster that

occurred off the Italian coast nearthe island of Giglio on the TuscanCoast leaves a lot of questions.Most cruise ships, especially themore modern ones, are equippedwith loads of sophisticated elec-tronics, probably required by theinsurance companies. One of theunits is forward and side scanningsonar which has an alarm systemthat warns of impending danger.I’m sure you have seen systemslike this advertised in boatingmagazines.

Every time a new story comesout in the newspaper it’s differentwhy the captain allowed the shipto be off course, a course the shiphad run on many previous cruises.The only time cruise ships changetheir usual course is for badweather or comfort of the passen-gers. My question is, “Whoturned the sonar alarms off, or ig-nored them?”

There had to be many otherships officers on the bridge thathad to realize the danger ofchanging course which wouldlead to a grounding on a reef thatwas documented by charts. Eventhough it appears the captain wentdaffy for whatever reason, cer-tainly one of the other officersshould have taken action to pre-vent this tragedy. Even manypeople on shore thought the shipwould hit the reef.

So there is more blame to beshared, not just for the captain,who is far from innocent, but forthose other officers on the bridge.Stay tuned, this story isn’t over.

Laura Decker finishes trek Our 16-year-old circumnaviga-

tor has decided to end her trip onthe Caribbean island of St.Maarten. If you remember, thiswas one of her stops on the firstpart of her venture. Believe it ornot but her father was issued asummons in the Netherlands toappear because they thought theyoungster was not giving herschool studies full attention.Since she was born on a boat offthe shore of New Zealand, she’sthinking of becoming a citizen ofthat country. If you read herblogs, she could probably teachthe school teachers a thing or two.

Laura arrived in St. Maartenon January 21, one year and oneday after she started her venture.Her parents greeted her as she en-tered the Port of Phillipsburg. Her

hicles and motor coach models.They look strong and impressive.For more info call 1 888 926-6563 or visitwww.hydraspyder.com.

Help against pirates We have all read about the So-

mali pirates taking ships andboats for huge ransoms and some-times killing the victims. Now anew device has been introducedto help prevent this from happen-ing. It’s a non-lethal laser pro-duced by Photonic SecuritySystems. The laser weapon is en-gineered to keep pirates away.Shine the SMV 100 Laser at po-tential intruders and block theireyesight from up to 500 metersaway. The weapon has an oscillat-ing laser beam that paints a 10foot wide target area. The piratescannot look directly into the laser,which makes it difficult for themto fire weapons at you with anyaccuracy. It also tells them theyhave been spotted and that youwill take evasive measures. Thereis also a remote version whichcan be operated from the helm.

The custom built unit is pricedat $30,000. More info: www.pho-tonicsecuritysystems.com. I won-der if we could use this on illegalimmigrants crossing the border?

Going to buy a used boat?So you’ve been to the boat

show but didn’t buy a new boat.Maybe a used one fits your pock-etbook better. In this economythere are many used boats forsale, but be very cautious. Boatsare the first to be neglected in abad economy. Maintenance thatshould be performed never getsdone. That is why you alwayshear me saying check the mainte-nance log, and have a survey.

This holds true if you are buy-ing the boat from an individual ora dealer. Remember your bank orinsurance company will probablyrequire a survey anyway. So thebest thing to do is take a sea trialand if you are satisfied then get asurvey. It will save you money inthe long run.

Also you might want to sched-ule you and your crew for theUSCG Auxiliary boating classes.Chances are you will save 10 per-

MikeRudderham

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last leg from Cape Town, SouthAfrica took 41 days. She coveredmore than 27,000 nautical mileswith stops in the Canary Islands,Panama, the Galapagos Islands,Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora, Australia,South Africa and finally St.Maarten. Guinness Book ofWorld Records and the WorldSailing Speed Record Councilwill not recognize her as the

youngest world circumnavigator.They want to discourage danger-ous attempts by younger people.Well I for one congratulate herand I hope she writes a book.

Practice safe boating and I’llsee you on the water.

Mike Rudderham is a veteranmarine surveyor with more than40 years experience in the marineindustry.

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February 2012 LAKESIDE 21

22 LAKESIDE February 2012

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Returning to Abaco Islands is just like coming homeBob and Carolyn Wilson,

aboard Sea Island Girl, continueLakeside's long running series ofcruising adventures which beganin the mid-1990s. To date we'vehad the Johnston family, Jean andBill Bayman, and Mechelle andBill Cooksey all contribute to theseries. Bob and Carolyn boatedon Lake Lanier until leaving fortheir adventure in 2002.

The sky was pitch black thenight we anchored at Great SaleCay with the only light beingfrom what seemed like a millionstars overhead. The blackenedimage of the deserted island was awelcomed sight following 12hours of little more than the occa-sional fly fish prancing across thedeep blue waters of the Atlantic.We had arrived in North PalmBeach from Brunswick fiveweeks earlier and had been wait-ing for favorable conditions tomake the hundred or so mile tripacross the Gulfstream, and now,though a bit weary, we were ex-cited to be back in the Bahamasand settled in for the night.

Continuing on a southerly trekacross the Little Bahama Bankthe following day we caught sightof local fishermen checking theirlobster traps, and others diving

neighbors are glad to see that youmade it back safely and therewould be lots of unpacking to do.So when we arrived at Boat Har-bour marina in Marsh Harboursome 10 hours later we had alarge contingency of friends tocatch our lines and help securethe boat. The unpacking wouldwait.

Hurricane Irene had passedover the area last year leaving inits wake twisted docks, buckledroofs and downed palm trees, butby the time we arrived in late De-cember most everything wascleaned up and it appeared thatmost businesses had reopened.Several restaurants and marinashad been closed since September,which is normally a slow touristseason, giving them an opportu-nity to complete needed repairs.

Despite the setbacks, Abaconi-ans are a hardy lot. They endurepower and telephone outages,which are commonplace. Theyshuttle back and forth from thecays to the mainland on almost adaily basis to conduct their busi-ness, or for routine shopping. Sel-dom do they complain.

The warmth and hospitality ofthe Bahamian people amazes us.The local Rotary Club has made

me an honorary member, Carolynreceives hugs and cheers from herschool students at Every ChildCounts each year when she re-turns, and when we walk intotown the locals that we have metthroughout the years greet us withan appreciative “welcome home”or a toot of their car horn as theypass by. Others stop with afriendly “can we give you a lift?”

It has been a month since wearrived and the weather could nothave been any nicer. We have al-ready established our routine – Iam up at 5 a.m. stroking the keyson the laptop, Coco is nudgingmy leg at 7 a.m. ready for hermorning jaunt with her newly ac-quired canine friends, and the Ad-miral is mapping out her day onthe beach to collect shells or plan-ning a new project for her 19 stu-dents at ECC.

With the weather being thebest in several years, we have hadthe opportunity to visit the sur-rounding cays. Much of what wehave experienced remains thesame, but there have been someinteresting developments – a newMarsh Harbour airport terminal is

for conch which are plentiful inthese waters. Lying on the whitesand 10 feet beneath us werecountless star fish and coral for-mations. We encountered spongefields at one point and occasion-ally would spot a school ofbrightly colored fish swiftlyswimming through the crystalclear waters of the Sea of Abaco.

The sun had cast a welcomedwarmness over Great Abaco Is-land by midday, while a gentlebreeze was blowing in from theAtlantic making it a good day fortraveling. Coco, having readilyadjusted to long days on thewater, was lying on the pilothousefloor gazing out the doorway justenjoying life.

Returning to the islands, as wehave the past nine years, is akin topulling into your driveway athome after being away on vaca-tion. It’s good to be home, the

MORE INFO: cruiswils@gmail.com orwww.cruisingwilson.blogspot.com

being constructed, a local televi-sion station is on the air, MarthaStewart and Oprah Winfrey re-portedly have purchased homes atthe Bakers Bay Club on GuanaCay, Bahama Telecommunica-tions will soon be offering 4Gphone service and the contents ofthe recently sunken mail shiphave been recovered.

Now you can fly in, watch tel-evision like it used to be in theearly 1960s, hob knob with therich and famous, and lie on thebeach and Facebook all of yourfriends. Sounds great doesn’t it?

- Until next time,Bob & Carolyn Wilson

Bob & CarolynWilson

CruisingWilsons

A scene from the Abacos.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 23

24 LAKESIDE February 2012

SOLUNAR TIMES FOR LAKE LANIER SOLUNAR TIMES FOR LAKE LANIER

JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN

1 1069.22 1067.69 1066.53 1064.50 1062.15 1059.41 1058.31 1059.842 1069.17 1067.67 1066.51 1064.37 1062.07 1059.24 1058.28 1059.863 1069.13 1067.66 1066.44 1064.33 1061.99 1059.15 1058.33 1059.844 1069.12 1067.63 1066.44 1064.28 1061.94 1058.99 1058.33 1059.805 1069.13 1067.57 1066.40 1064.25 1061.84 1058.99 1058.30 1059.816 1069.01 1067.51 1066.38 1064.30 1061.67 1058.95 1058.32 1059.827 1068.87 1067.46 1066.38 1064.23 1061.52 1058.79 1058.50 1059.888 1068.76 1067.40 1066.34 1064.14 1061.45 1058.63 1058.58 1059.949 1068.62 1067.43 1066.28 1064.02 1061.40 1058.44 1058.55 1060.01

10 1068.54 1067.41 1066.23 1063.98 1061.28 1058.25 1058.61 1060.0511 1068.57 1067.32 1066.18 1063.93 1061.14 1058.09 1058.65 1060.1712 1068.56 1067.16 1066.11 1063.88 1060.96 1058.06 1058.58 1060.2713 1068.49 1067.17 1066.10 1063.75 1060.78 1058.03 1058.54 1060.3414 1068.39 1067.09 1066.04 1063.63 1060.61 1057.91 1058.55 1060.3815 1068.32 1067.11 1065.95 1063.48 1060.56 1057.93 1058.54 1060.4116 1068.24 1067.11 1065.88 1063.28 1060.55 1058.15 1058.52 1060.4517 1068.13 1067.08 1065.82 1063.22 1060.35 1058.18 1058.53 1060.5318 1068.17 1067.01 1065.80 1063.17 1060.21 1058.19 1058.55 1060.6719 1068.14 1066.99 1065.73 1063.04 1060.14 1058.19 1028.51 1060.7720 1068.01 1066.95 1065.69 1062.86 1060.09 1058.19 1058.52 1060.9021 1067.90 1066.91 1065.62 1062.70 1060.00 1058.13 1058.58 1061.2722 1067.88 1066.91 1065.54 1062.63 1059.97 1058.13 1058.77 1061.4623 1067.95 1066.90 1065.51 1062.76 1059.95 1058.15 1059.02 1061.7424 1067.92 1066.82 1065.34 1062.75 1059.85 1058.08 1059.12 1061.9225 1067.91 1066.80 1065.22 1062.74 1059.80 1057.95 1059.19 1062.0426 1067.93 1066.76 1065.10 1062.56 1059.73 1057.92 1059.26 1062.0427 1067.92 1066.71 1065.04 1062.50 1059.68 1057.93 1059.57 1062.2828 1067.88 1066.66 1065.03 1062.36 1059.67 1058.02 1059.66 1062.3629 1067.82 1066.61 1064.87 1062.27 1059.62 1058.24 1059.7330 1067.74 1066.60 1064.72 1062.18 1059.60 1058.29 1059.7731 1066.61 1064.62 1059.52 1059.83

AVG 1068.38 1067.12 1065.80 1063.40 1060.65 1058.35 1058.78MAX 1069.22 1067.69 1066.53 1064.50 1062.15 1059.41 1059.83MIN 1067.74 1066.60 1064.62 1062.18 1059.52 1057.91 1058.28

LAKE LANIER WATER LEVELS

Be prepared for severe weatherDuring the last week

of January, I attended aproclamation signing byGovernor Nathan Deal. Itwas to proclaim the weekof February 6-11 SevereWeather Awareness Weekfor Georgia.

It is time for everyoneto prepare for the on-slaught of severe storms that will be verylikely this spring. La Nina continues goingstrong as we move through spring. LaNina is cold sea surface temperatures inthe eastern and central equatorial Pacific.This cold water actually changes globalwind patterns. The pattern is the same aslast spring and we all know what happenedthen. Severe storms were relentless and theloss of life and destruction were the likesof which we had not seen in more than 40years.

There are severe things to put on yoursevere storm preparedness check list. Firstand foremost is to have a family safetyplan. Make sure everyone in your houseknows exactly where to go and what to doif a tornado warning is issued for yourarea. Give the kids and yourself a bike ormotorcycle helmet to protect your head.Always wear shoes when going to yoursafe place. In case you have to evacuate ormove, you will be much safer walkingshould there be glass or debris. Your safeplace should be on the lowest floor awayfrom windows and doors. A tornado is avortex of wind in contact with the ground.The ground causes winds to be slightlyweaker right near the ground due to fric-tion. The higher up you go, the stronger

the tornadic winds arebecause of less friction.That is why we all needto be on the lowest floorpossible, or better yet, inthe basement belowground.

It is suggested thatyou evacuate a mobilehome. We saw mobile

homes that were completely obliteratedlast season. Fortunately, the residents gotin their car and left before the tornadoeshit. It is imperative you take immediate ac-tion when a warning is issued.

A big advantage you have living innorth Georgia is WSB-TV. We have themost powerful weather radar on the planet.Conventional radar takes six minutes toscan a thunderstorm. Our 1.26 million wattdual-pol Doppler radar can scan a storm inless than a minute. This means we can seethe internal structure of a storm, find dam-aging winds, damaging hail, and torna-does, and show you what is heading yourway faster than any other station. Secondsare critical in local warnings. Our newdual-pol Doppler can also verify tornadoesbecause we can actually see debris beinglofted in to the air.

Our severe storm season usually beginsin full force in March and April. Not thisyear. It begins this month. The outlookfrom the Climate Prediction Center is forabove average temperatures to continuethis month. This La Nina warming meansan earlier severe storm season and a longersevere storm season. Please, prepare now.

Glenn Burns is chief meteorologist forWSB-TV in Atlanta.

GlennBurns

LanierOutlook

February 2012 LAKESIDE 25

26 LAKESIDE February 2012

February 2012 LAKESIDE 27

28 LAKESIDE February 2012

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February 2012 LAKESIDE 29

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Group offers boating classes to get ready for the seasonAs always, the winter months

means education at the AtlantaSail and Power Squadron, At-lanta's Boating Club!

First up on February 11 is ourBoat Smart class. Here you canlearn the basics of boating, suchas boat handling (docking andtrailering), safety equipment andprocedures, navigation basics (therules of the road), and boat types

and terminology. This class isgreat for adults and teens, you canenjoy learning as a family!

The class is approved by theState of Georgia Department ofNatural Resources (GA DNR)and by the National Associationof the State Boating Law Admin-istrators (NASBLA).

The location is at 1050 BufordDam Rd., Buford. The class runs

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Antiques ShowAntiques, Collectibles,Home Decor & More!

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from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Cost is $35 and families may

share. Visit our website atlantas-boatingclub.com for more detailsand how to sign up.

Most of our advanced boatingclass series got under way in Jan-uary, but there’s still time to joinour Piloting class which beginsFebruary 20.

Piloting is the first of a two-part program of study of inlandand coastal navigation. Focus ison the fundamentals of basic pi-loting – keeping track of yourmovements on the water, deter-mining where you are at anygiven moment, and laying out acourse to your planned destina-tion.

Included are a thorough studyof charts and their use, aids tonavigation, mariner’s compass,variation and deviation, bearings,

MORE INFO: www.atlantasboatingclub.com; 770 734-6412

dead reckoning, and developingskill at plotting and labeling.

Classes are held on Mondaynights from 7 until 9. in Atlanta.See atlantasboatingclub.com foradditional information, the classsyllabus, and how to sign up.

Did you get a fancy new GPSfor Christmas, but not sure how touse it?

The organization is holding aGPS Seminar on Saturday March10 from 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. at WestMarine in Buford. The basic sem-inar is a great “starter” for gettingthe most out of your GPS device.

February is always a specialmonth for our squadron, as wecelebrate our Change of Watch,installing a new bridge of officersand kicking off a new year. Weappreciate and thank our out-standing leadership in 2011 andlook forward to an outstanding2012!

Visit our website atlantasboat-ingclub.com and “friend” us onFacebook (Atlanta Boating) tokeep up with all the social and ed-ucational opportunities we offerthroughout the year!

The club offers a special “thankyou” to their 2011 Commander,Lisa Herndon.

770-403-4899 or 770-889-0929

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32 LAKESIDE February 2012

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Feb. 4 – Father/Daughter Valentine Dancepresented at Lake Lanier Islands, 6-8 p.m. and9-11 p.m. by Kiwanis of North Gwinnett andLake Lanier Islands, The Grand Hall, 7000Holiday Road. Admission: $40/couple, $10 ad-ditional ticket. Info: www.northgwinnettkiwa-nis.com.

Feb. 14-19, 21-25 – “The Grapes ofWrath,” presented by Gainesville Theater Al-liance at Hosch Theater at Brenau University inGainesville. Admission: $16-18, adults; $14-16,seniors; $10-12, students. Info: www.gainesvilletheatrealliance.org.

Feb. 9 – “Whose Whoooo is Whose,” 5:30-7p.m., a discussion by wildlife experts on adap-tations of owls, and how to identify the nativespecies, held at Dahlonega Gold Museum, 1Public Square, Dahlonega. Admission: $6adults, $5.50 seniors, $3.50 children. Info: 706-864-2257.

Feb. 17-19, 20-25 – “25th Annual PutnamCounty Spelling Bee,” 7:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.matinee, presented by Gainesville Theatre Al-liance at the Ed Cabell Theatre at GainesvilleState College, Oakwood. Info: 678-717-3624;www.gainesvilletheatrealliance.org.

Feb. 21 – Monet, Manet and Merlot, a so-cial art event on Impressionism held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Gallerie 110, 224 Main St.,Gainesville. Free. Info: 678-936-5153;www.gallerie110.com.

Feb. 21, 23 & 24 – 13th Daddy DaughterDances, “Princess Ball,” presented by theGainesville Park and Recreation, 5:30-8 p.m. atthe Gainesville Civic Center, are for grades 6 &up (Feb. 21), grades 3-5 (Feb. 23) and pre-k-2nd grade (Feb. 24). Admission: $20 per per-son; $5 discount for additional child. Info:770-531-2680; www.gainesville.org/recreation.

Mar. 23-25 – “Alice in Wonderland,” per-formed by the Gainesville Ballet Co. at PearceAuditorium at Brenau University. Info:www.gainesvilleballet.org.

Mar. 31 – Easter Bone Hunt held 11 a.m. tonoon at Laurel Bark Park. Bring your dog(s) tohunt for treat-filled eggs. Admission: $5 perdog. Info: 770-535-8280.

Thru Mar. 4 – “The Color Red,” exhibitswork by Harry Shulbert at Sautee Nacoochee

Community Association, 283 Ga. 255 N.Sautee Nacoochee. Info: 706-878-3300;www.snca.org.

Thru Mar. 8 – “Lincoln: The Constitutionand the Civil War,” a traveling exhibit at theLibrary Technology Center at North GeorgiaCollege & State University in Dahlonega. Info:libguides.northgeorgia.edu/Lincoln.

Thru April 1 – Petticoats and Slide Rules,a historical exhibit that celebrates women’stechnological achievements, personal experi-ences and equal rights struggles at GwinnettEnvironmental and Heritage Center, 2020Clean Water Dr., Buford. Free. Info:www.gwinnettehc.org.

Thru May 6 – Wildlife Rescue exhibit atFernbank Museum of Natural History sharesstories of animal rescues. Through interactiveelements, visitors step into rescue efforts andlearn the innovative science involved. Admis-sion: $17.50 adults, $16.50 students and sen-iors, $15.50 ages 3-12, free to members andages 2 and younger. Info: 404-929-6300;www.fernbankmuseum.org.

Thru June 1 – “Abstracts” by FerdinandRosa displayed at Adam’s Restaurant and PianoBar, 15. E. Main St., Buford. Info: 678-745-0379; ferdinandrosa.carbonmade.com.

Cumming PlayhouseFeb. 2-26 – The Dixie Swim Club presented

by Gypsy Theatre Co.Feb. 10 – The Dixie Swim Club Author’s

Night

Mar. 3 – The North Georgia BarbershopSingers

Mar. 4 – Peppino D’Agostino and CarlosReyes in concert

Mar. 8-11 – Ozark JubileeMar. 16-18 – SummerwindMar. 24 – Mountain Music and Medicine

ShowInfo: 770-781-9178; www.playhousecum-ming.com.

Elachee Nature Center1st Saturday Hikes – Monthly except January

and August, the first Saturday of the month,held 10-11:30 a.m. Learn about local nativeplants and animals. This monthly hike is a greatway to explore the Chicopee Woods with an ex-perienced guide. The program fee also includesadmission to the museum exhibitions.

Spring and Fall – Stars Over Elachee heldFridays, Saturdays and/or Sundays at dusk.Learn to use a telescope and star chart to viewstars, planets and constellations in the nightsky. Pre-registration is required. Fee: $10,adults; $5, children through age 12; free, mem-bers. Call for dates and times.

Spring and Fall – Backyard ConservationWorkshops, Compost and Rainwater Collectioninstruct in recycling natural resources. Call fordates and times.Info: 770 535-1976, www.elachee.org.

Gainesville State CollegeMar. 1-3 – 2012 Big Band Show, presented

in the Ed Cabell Theatre, CE Building, at 7:30p.m. (Mar. 1-2) and 9:30 p.m. (Mar. 3), featur-ing the GSC Jazz Band, Jazz Combo andChorale directed by Dr. Andrew Santander andBruce Sellers and accompanied by Dr. JoannaKim Doyle.Info: 770-717-3639; www.gsc.edu

Georgia Mountain FairgroundsFeb. 11 – Willie Nelson, 7 p.m. Tickets are

$47.Mar. 15 – Jeremy Camp, 7 p.m. Tickets

start at $20.Info: www.georgiamountainfairgrounds.com

Interactive Neighborhood for KidsFeb. 1-3 – Snow Craft Week, enjoy arts &

crafts about snow.Feb. 6-10 – Valentine’s Day Craft Week,

make valentines.Feb. 13-17 – Giraffe Craft Week, learn

about these tall animals and create one.Feb. 20-24 – President’s Day Craft Week,

learn about our presidents and create presiden-tial crafts.

Feb. 27-29 – Dental Health Craft Week,arts and crafts about dental hygiene.

Mar. 5-9 – Lion Craft Week, make fun lioncrafts and learn about “king of jungle.”

Mar. 12-16 – St. Patrick’s Day CraftWeek, make “green” crafts to celebrateInfo: Free, with admission unless otherwisenoted; www.inkfun.org; 770 536-1900

North Atlanta Trade CenterFeb. 18-19 – Atlanta’s Exotic Bird FairFeb. 24 – Universal Championship

WrestlingMar. 9-11 – The Woodworking ShowMar. 18 – Georgia Beauty Supply Trade

ShowInfo: 770-279-9899, www.northatlantatrade-center.com.

Piedmont CollegeFeb. 3 – Athens Guitar Trio, recognized as

one of the most expressive chamber ensembles,performs at 7:30 p.m. in the Piedmont CollegeChapel. Info: 706-778-8500.

Feb. 16-19 – “A Little Night Music,”Stephen Sondheim musical performed at 7:30p.m., 2 p.m. matinee (Feb. 19). Admission: $10,adults; $5 for students and seniors.

Feb. 23-Mar. 31 – Scott Stephens ArtShow, an exhibition of print making, at theMason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art, across ofPiedmont College in downtown Demorest. Re-ception held 6-7 p.m., Feb. 23. Info: 706-778-8500, ext. 1307.Info: www.piedmont.edu

Quinlan Visual Arts CenterThru Feb. 19 – “A Taste,” Tannery Row

Artist Colony; “Winter Juried Show,” theGeorgia Art League; “Threads of Time,” Tom-mye Scanlin; and “Moments of Color,” LindaDragonette.

Mar. 1, 3 – Gala Preview (Mar. 1), 34th An-nual Gala Live and Silent Art Auction (Mar.3).Quinlan Visual Arts CenterInfo: 770 536-2575, www.quinlanartcenter.org.

Lakeside Calendar February 2012

MORE INFO: www.lakesidenews.com

2012 SAILING EVENTS ON LAKE LANIERClub Event Day Date

FEBRUARY 2012

LLSC 1064 Sat 02/04UYC UYC Spring #2 Sat 02/04LLSC Laser Frostbite #5 Sun 02/05SSC Ice Breaker #4 Sun 02/05UYC Hot Ruddered Bum Sat 02/11LLSC Laser Frostbite #6 Sun 02/12LARC Winter #4 - SSC Hosts Sun 02/12SSC Ice Breaker #5 Sat 02/18LLSC Laser Frostbite #7 Sun 02/19UYC UYC Spring 3 Sun 02/19LARC Winter #5 - BF Hosts Sat 02/25LLSC Laser Frostbite #8 Sun 02/26

MARCH 2012

SSC Nippert #1 Sat 03/03LLSC Laser Southerns Regatta Sat 03/03LLSC Laser Southerns Regatta Sun 03/04

BF Winter Gale #1 Sat 03/10LLSC Atlanta Cup J24/J22 Sat 03/10LLSC Atlanta Cup J24/J22 Sun 03/11SSC Nippert #2 Sun 03/11UYC UYC Spring 4 Sun 03/11BF Around Alone Sat 03/17BF Winter Gale #2 Sun 03/18UYC Commodore's Cup Sat 03/24SSC Nippert #3 Sat 03/24SSC Nippert #4 Sun 03/25AISC Dogwood Regatta Fri 03/30AISC Dogwood Regatta Sat 03/31

APRIL 2012

AISC Dogwood Regatta Sun 04/01UYC UYC Makeup 1 Sat 04/14SSC Masters - Skippers over 50 Sat 04/14LLSC MC Rebel Rouser Regatta Sat 04/14LLSC MC Rebel Rouser Regatta Sun 04/15

BF Winter Gale #3 Sun 04/15AISC AISC Summer 1 - #1 Wed 04/18BF Winter Gale #4 Sat 04/21SSC Nippert #5 Sun 04/22AISC AISC Summer 1 - #2 Wed 04/25BF Celtic Crossing Sat 04/28UYC UYC Makeup 2 Sat 04/28

These races are open to non-club members interested inconnecting with the racing scene on Lake Lanier. Formore information, visit www.SailLanier.com and click onthe club that's hosting the race.

LARC - Lanier Auxiliary Racing CommitteeAISC - Atlanta Inland Sailing ClubBFSC - Barefoot Sailing ClubLLSC - Lake Lanier Sailing ClubUYC - University Yacht Club

Club Event Day Date Club Event Day Date

Sailing Club Events

February 2012 LAKESIDE 35

GeorgiaRealty

Lake Lanier & Surrounding Area

WE NEED MORE LAKE HOMES! INTEREST RATES ARE DOWN - WE HAVE BUYERS! CALL US!

Considering buying on the lake,but have lots of questions?CALL US FOR ANSWERS!

770-889-0169No Obligation

ONE OF THE BEST DEALS ON THE LAKE! Great Location off Pilgrim Mill Rd - Beautifully RemodeledOpen Ranch with Hardwood Floors + HUGE Finished Daylight Basement w/Stone FP & Full Size Bar +Apt/Office w/Separate Entrance over Garage. Open GR w/2-Sided FP & Wet-Bar, DR, LakesideGathering Rm., Huge Owner Ste. w/Sitting Rm, Screened Porch, Deck w/Hot-Tub, Covered Patio offTerrace Level, Updated Kitchen w/Island & Granite, 2-Car Garage + LOTS OF EXTRA PARKING! SLIP-DOCK IN WATER ALWAYS! Let's Make a Deal!!!

AMAZING NEW REDUCED PRICE! MUST SEE INSIDE! DOUBLE SLIP-DOCK!

$449,900

EXCELLENT LOCATION ON LAKE LANIER! Watch the Sunrise from this Charming Home that was Built for Lake Living- with Lots of Decking + Screened Porch. 2BR on Main + 2BR Up- Gathering Room Open to Kitchen + Partially Fin.Bsmt. Cvrd Slip-Dock! You Will Love this Young Deer Area Location on Lake + Great Homes Around and Across Lake!Perfect Full Time or Weekend Get-Away!

$399,000

GRASS-TO-WATER LOT ON LAKE LANIER!

GORGEOUS OPEN WATER SUNRISE VIEWS from thisSpacious Open Ranch on POINT LOT! Lakeside OwnerSte. w/Whirlpool Tub, Vaulted Screened Porch +Beautiful Finished Terrace Level with Amazing LakeViews. 2-Car Grg.-Great Arrangement for In-Laws orGuests - TWO SEPARATE COVERED SLIP-DOCKS - CanPosition Anywhere on Lot!

$895,000

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!

EXECUTIVE'S BRICK & STONE CRAFTSMAN HOME ISFILLED WITH "OLD WORLD" CHARM FeaturingDesigner Accents & Upgrades Throughout. AmazingOwner Suite, Gourmet Kitchen w/Granite+VaultedKeeping Rm w/Stone FP & Breakfast Rm w/Slate Flrs -Fin. Terrace Level w/2nd Kitchen, GR, DR & LR, 4+CarGarage, Workshop, Fenced Yard+Top-of-the-LineDouble Slip-Dock w/Party Deck on Young Deer.

$675,000

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!

FALL IN LOVE! Excellent Opportunity to Get on the Lake for Only $336,000 in this Upscale Lake N'hood-Off GA-400 Exit16. Built for Lake Living with 3-Sided Wrap-Around Porch+HUGE Lakeside Screened Porch. Tile and Hardwood Floorsin this Great Open Plan-Amazing Finished Room on Terrace Level has Furniture Grade Finished Pine Walls & Ceiling withLots of Glass for Nature's Views! Slip-Dock. BUILT TO LAST!

$336,000

IT'S TIME TO ENJOY LIFE-SUMMER IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

RARE OPPORTUNITY! CHARMING COTTAGE W/GORGEOUS WATER in Upscale Lake N'hood! Enjoy asCottage or Expand-Flowers & Gardens Welcome you to Relaxed Living - Lakeside Gathering Room w/Brick FP& Hardwood Flrs.,Bedrooms w/Pine Flrs, Open Kitch, Dining Rm., Peaceful Screened Porch to Enjoy MorningCoffee, Fin. Terrace Level w/2nd Kitchen-Patio & Fenced Area-Sunset Cove & Lakeside Restaurants a ShortBoat Ride Away!

$375,000

WOW! EXCELLENT DEEP WATER & VIEWS ON LAKE LANIER!!!

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Get Ready For Winter!Winterization SpecialsAll Winterizations Include Antifreeze

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V-6 - $148

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36 LAKESIDE February 2012

ATLANTA PARTNERS

Rodney Hellemn770-945-9524

www.rodneyhellemnsells.com • Email: rodneyhellemn@kw.com678-318-5000

“Keep Smiling!”

Visit www.rodneyhellemnsells.com for information and photos about these properties and more!

Priced below appraised value! Builder's personal deepwater lakefront home. Double slip dock in no wake cove.Trey, vaulted & coffered ceilings everywhere. Gourmetkitchen, marble & hardwoods thru out. Terrace level enter-tainment game room & 12 seat theater room. Pack yourbags and wake up in Paradise every day!

Priced at $1,499,000 $1,099,000

WOODLAKE DR - SOUTH END OF LAKE LANIER NEAR 985 - REDUCED $400,000

Beautiful, deep water lake home with a very gentle walk to your covered boathouse,with vinyl decking. Home features all the upgrades, including high-end trim, wet bar,trey ceilings, granite countertops with subzero, big sunroom and screened porch, withhot tub and views to the lake. Nicely-landscaped. Great south-end location, close to theMall of GA and I-985.

SOUTH END OF LANIER - DEEP WATER

Priced at $675,000

Four sides brick on nearly 2 acres, nearMall of Ga & I-985. The main level & fin-ished terrace have two separate entrancesfrom the exterior. The main level and theterrace cannot access each other from theinside. Upper level has 3bed/2ba. Lowerlevel has 2beds/1ba. Gunite pool has beenout of service.

NEARLY 2 ACRES, FOUR SIDED BRICK RANCHIN SUGAR HILL

Priced to Sell $164,500 $125,000

Thinking of buying or selling? Give me a call!I need your listing! All new listings come with a FREE appraisal from a certified appraiser with Lake Lanier knowledge.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 37

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• Best way to maximize any beautiful interior or exterior view! Also great for docks!

• Maintenance free! All aluminum posts! No rust! No paint!

• Safety glass/patented posts. Glass gates!• New shorter posts available!

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38 LAKESIDE February 2012

Call Tom direct: 678 300 3800Office: 770 781-9621 • www.atlantadock.com • Email: tomatdock@aol.com • Fax: 770 886-7373

• Galvanized docks• Aluminum docks • Boat/PWC lifts• Dock accessories

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February 2012 LAKESIDE 39

Local Realtor offers review of 2011 lake real estate marketBy Bev Knight

If you followthe Lake Lanierreal estate market,you know that thepast few yearshave been roughfor home sellers.Between the re-cession and twodevastating droughts, the newshas not been good. Since the mar-ket’s peak in 2007, home priceshave dropped as the number oflake home buyers has diminished.The real estate agents who spe-cialize in lake property generallyfelt that 2011 saw an improve-ment in the market. Well, thenumbers are in, and it really was agood year. In fact, it was the bestyear since before the recessionbegan. Here are some of the inter-esting statistics from 2011:

• Number of Lake Lanierhomes with docks sold – 200(higher than 2007)

• Average sales price –$459,792 (up 7 percent from theprevious year – first increasesince before the recession)

• Average number of days onthe market – 140 (3 percent im-provement from 2010)

• Percentage of sales price to

list price – 90• Percentage of lake home

sales considered to be distressedproperty – 18

As usual, Gainesville had themost lake sales with 105, overhalf the total. It was followed by aresurgent Dawsonville with 34and Cumming with 29. Nextcame Flowery Branch with 14sales and Buford close behindwith 13. Murrayville and Oak-wood rounded out the total withthree and two sales respectively.

By city, the highest averageprice for a lake home was in Oak-wood, but that number is mislead-ing. There were only two sales

and both were in a luxury neigh-borhood. That average price was$927,000. The next highest aver-age price was in Flowery Branchat $518,000. Other city averagesincluded Buford at $497,000;Cumming, $479,000; Gainesvilleat $462,000; Dawsonville,$390,000; and Murrayville at$245,000.

So, what does all this datamean? Unless world eventschange the current trend, the bot-tom of the market is behind us.Lake home prices have started toclimb, and the number of buyersis definitely on the rise. LakeLanier real estate specialists are

Knight

starting to see significant compe-tition for aggressively-pricedhomes in the lower ranges. On anumber of occasions, thosehomes have sold above their listprices thanks to multiple competi-tive offers.

With interest rates remainingextremely low, the trend is ex-pected to continue and expand tohigher priced homes in 2012. Inaddition, for the first time inyears, there are some institutionslending speculative money to in-vestors for the purpose of fixingup and flipping distressed or sub-par properties. This will allow the

owners of fixer-uppers to finallysell their older homes. That willhelp upgrade some of the shabbyolder properties that have broughtdown values in certain lake neigh-borhoods.

All of these trends point to abrighter future in the Lanier realestate market.

(Source used to compile data:FMLS.)

Bev Knight is a Lake Lanierresident and lead agent for TheGood Life Group of KellerWilliams Lanier Partners. Hergroup specializes in property onLake Lanier.

40 LAKESIDE February 2012

Lake Lanier Marinas InfoAQUALAND MARINAHours of operation: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week fortenants, 8 a.m. to sunset forvisitorsPhone: 770-967-6811Location: 6800 Lights Ferry Rd., Flowery BranchTypes of slips available: Houseboats, covered cruisers,& all types of open slips plus covered & open dry slips,totaling 1,725 wet docks and 460 dry docksStore: YesStore/Dock hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 7 days a weekTypes of fuel: Non-ethanol, 90 octane Price of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.79On-site eatery: Dockside Grill Take-out menu: Sandwiches Restaurant description: CasualMenu: Famous “Docker Burger,” sandwiches, salads &seafood grilled & fried.Phone: 770-363-2318Security: 24/7, gatedAdditional amenities: Self service work yard with deepdraft well & marine travel lift, houseboat launchingramp, pump-out station, bathhouses with showers, laun-dry facilities, wet slips with private gated parking. Salesof new boats by Coast to Coast Yacht Sales, brokerageservices by Marine Max, rental boats & cabins by LanierAqua Rentals.

AQUAMARINA LAZY DAYS Hours of operation: Office/Dock, 9a.m.-5 p.m., 7 days a weekPhone: 770-945-1991Location: 6700 Holiday Rd, BufordTypes of slips available: Wet docks for 75-150 foot cov-ered & 100-foot open slips; 554 dry stack; New 125' x24' & 150 x 26' HB slips now available.Types of fuel: 90 Non-ethonol and ValvTect diesel ma-rine fuelPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12)) $4.69 premium; $4.39dieselSecurity: Holiday Marina security patrols marinaFull Maintenance, Repair and Service: Marine Max,770-614-6968Additional amenities: Free pump/porti-potti station formembers. Wet slips: private gated access, golf cart valetservice, free dockside pumpout. New gas dock easy ac-cess for houseboats. New courtesy docks for dry stackcustomers. Boat sales: Marine Max.

BALD RIDGE MARINAHours of operation: Office, Mon-Fri, 9a.m.-5 p.m., marina has 24/7 access.Phone: 770-887-5309; www.baldridge-marina.com Location: 1850 Bald Ridge Marina Rd., CummingTypes of slips available: Covered & uncovered.Store: Sandwich shop; some boating suppliesStore hours: SeasonalTypes of fuel: 90 Non-ethanol; dieselPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.49; $4.09 dieselOn-site eatery: Sandwich Market - SeasonalMenu: Grilled & cold sandwiches, pita wrap.Restaurant description: CasualPhone: 770-889-2185Security: 24/7 security, gatedAdditional amenities: Full-service department, parts de-partment, boat body work, yacht repair & Marine MaxStovall sales dock.

GAINESVILLE MARINA Hours of operation: Office,8 a.m.-5 p.m., 7 days a weekPhone: 770-536-2171Location: 2145 Dawsonville Hwy., GainesvilleTypes of slips available: 600 slips, dry stack covered upto 25', wet covered & uncovered up to 80'.Types of fuel: 90 recreational, non-ethanolPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.49 (Dock open 9 a.m.-5p.m., 7 days a week; Pay-at-the-Pump, 9 a.m.- ‘til dark, 7days a week)On-site eatery: Skogies (Seasonal Wed. thru Sun.)Menu: Barbecue, seafood and American fare. Phone: 678-450-1310 Security: 7 days a weekAdditional amenities: Parts department, land serviceshop, recreational room, bath house, pumpout station.Sales of new, used and brokerage boats. Bennington Pon-toon Boats, Four Winns Deck/Sport Boats and YamahaOutboards.

HABERSHAM MARINA Hours of operation:Office/Store, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 7days a weekPhone: 770-887-5432Location: 2200 Habersham Marina Rd., CummingTypes of slips available: 650 slips for dry storage up to27’Store: YesTypes of fuel: 90 Recreational fuel, non-ethanolPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.39 (Dock open 9 a.m.-4p.m., Mon.-Sat./Closed on Sun.)Security: Yes Additional amenities: Repair services, detailing andbottom cleaning. Also bathroom and shower facilities areavailable.

HIDEAWAY BAY MARINAHours of operation: Office: 8:30 a.m-5:30 p.m., 7 days; Marina: 24/7Phone: 770-967-5500Web Site:www.HideawayBayMarina.comLocation: 6334 Mitchell St., Flowery BranchTypes of slips available: Wet (510) Dry (150)Showroom: Atlanta MarineStore/Gas Dock hours: 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 7 days aweek)Types of Fuel: 90 octane, non-ethanolPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.34On-site eatery: Fish TalesSecurity: 24/7 manned securityAdditional amenities: Restaurant-Seasonal, completeboat/motor repair, new bathhouse w/ locked showers andAC, laundry, pump out, trailer storage.

HOLIDAY MARINA Hours of operation: Office/Store/Dock,8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 7 days a weekPhone: 770-945-7201Location: 6900 Holiday Rd., BufordTypes of slips available: 22-100' Uncovered including 80,90, and 100' Breakwater Slips; 26-85' Covered Slips to-talling 1238 SlipsStore: Yes; Convenience items and basic boating sup-plies.

Types of fuel: Premium, unleaded & diesel, non-ethanolPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12): $4.99 premium; $4.89 un-leaded; $4.49 diesel (5 percent discount with Westrec ad-vantage membership) On-site eatery: Castaways Seafood Bar & GrillMenu: Seafood, burgers, sandwiches & salads Phone: 678-765-8300Security: 24/7Additional amenities: Boat rentals, repair service,pumpout station, boat sales, TowBoat US

LANIER HARBOR MARINAHours of operation: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,7 days; Gas dock: 24 hours.Phone: 770-945-2884Location: 2066 Pinetree Dr., Bu-fordTypes of slips available: 40’x16’ & 50’x18’, withpower, water, satellite hook-upStore: Yes Store hours: 24/7 gas dock & store Types of fuel: 89 octane, 93 octanePrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.59 mid-grade, $4.69premium, with 10 cents off a gallon, both mid-grade andpremium, for Boat US members.Security: 24/7Additional amenities: 24/7 towing service

PORT ROYALE MARINA Hours of operation: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 7days a weekPhone: 770-887-5715Location: 9200 Lan Mar Rd., GainesvilleTypes of slips available: Uncovered, 20' to 8'; covered,24' to 50' totaling 514 slips & dry stack storage (464) forup to 39' & 115 covered bay sheds to store boats on trail-ers.Store: Service Store & Ship StoreStore/Dock hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 7 days a weekTypes of fuel: 90-octanePrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.49On-site eatery: Pelican Pete's Bar and GrillSecurity: Night securityAdditional amenities: Climate controlled bath housewith showers, 24/7 self-service pump out, rental boats,Courtesy dock for dry stack, two ship stores, full-servicecenter, largest floating gas dock in Ga., 16 gas pumps.

SUNRISE COVE MARINAHours of operation:Office/Store/Dock, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,Wed.-Mon., closed Tues.Phone: 770-536-8599Location: 5725 Flat Creek Rd., GainesvilleTypes of slips available: Uncovered-20-70'; Covered-24-50'; to include an exclusive 44' Sailboat BreakwaterDock. Total Wet Slips 688 and nine (9) Dry StorageSpaces (boats on trailer).Store: YesStore/Dock hours: 9:00 a.m.-5 p.m., Wed.-Mon., closedTues.Types of fuel: 90 recreational, non-ethanolPrice of fuel: (as of 1/26/12) $4.79 with 5 percent off withWestrec Advantage Membership Security: 24/7Additional amenities: Club House, bath house, laundryfacility and pump-out open 24/7.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 41

AMENITIES• Family Friendly

• Clubhouse with Fireplace & Deck Overlooking the Lake• Fuel Dock & Ship Store

• FREE Pumpouts for Sunrise Slip Holders**Some Restrictions Apply

• Nestled in a Protected Cove• Continental Breakfast on the 1st Sunday

of the Month - June thru Sept

770-536-85995725 Flat Creek Road • Gainesville, GA 30504

(Less than 5 miles from Exit 16 on I-985 and at lake mile marker 3MC)

The Best Kept Secret on Lake Lanier!Sunrise Cove Marina

A Westrec Marina

Visit our web-site atwww.sunrisecovemarina.com.

Sunrise Cove Marina

42 LAKESIDE February 2012

OUTDOORS ON LAKE LANIER

Gainesville walk to lake follows an interesting path

The planned completion of a pedestrian bridge con-necting Midtown Gainesville with the Downtown

Square and Rock Creek Greenway will create a two-milewalkway that traverses some of the city’s most loved parksand interesting landmarks en route to Lake Lanier. It’s amulti-million dollar trail forged by contemplation and sweatand financed through a near $1 million anonymous donation,state and federal grants, city funds, and private investment.The pedestrian journey from the heart of the city to the shoreof a treasured resource represents a 25-year vision by theCity of Gainesville, Parks & Recreation Department, Friendsof the Parks & Greenways, and others who cherish connec-tivity outdoors.

A round trip walking tour from the pedestrian bridge to amonument to the former planet Pluto near the end of the trail

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY JANE HARRISON

Shana Thalacker walks her dog, Hendrix, atWilshire Trails.

The 10-foot wide concrete pedestrian overpass above Jesse Jewell Parkway is expected to open in lateMarch. A sign marks the beginning of Rock Creek Greenway (upper left).

A stone spring house built bythe CCC in the 1930s is amongthe oldest structures in IvyTerrace.

Unveiled on June 7, 1909 bythe Confederate States ofAmerica Longstreet Chapterof the Daughters of the Amer-ican Revolution, the statueknown as “Old Joe” remainedin tact after double tornadoesdestroyed most buildings onthe downtown square.

On the southeast corner ofthe historic Gainesvillesquare, walkers can em-bark on a scale modelwalking tour of the solarsystem, beginning with themonument to The Sun.

Two war memorials at Rock Creek Park honor Hall County veterans. One is dedicated to 20th Centuryveterans (above). The other bears the names of 26 soldiers killed in action in Vietnam.

See Outdoors, page 43

February 2012 LAKESIDE 43

• OutdoorsContinued from Page 42

Outdoor Activity CalendarFebruary 2012

See Lake Lanier Olympic Venue Calendar forcanoe/kayak and rowing activities

Aqua ActivitiesNorth Ga. Erg Sprint & Triathrow,

Gainesville. Indoor5K erg row, 5K run,500 yard swim, plusseparate erg sprint.Feb. 4. High SchoolTriathrow-8-10:30a.m., Collegiate ErgSprints-9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Masters and Col-legiate Triathrow-1-3:30 p.m. Lunch at 11. In-dividuals $25, teams $75.www.rownorthga.com,www.regattacentral.com, (770) 598-6180.

North Georgia Super Sprint Triathlon,Dawsonville. First race in five-event series oftriathons for adults and children. All swims arein pools. Distances for ages 14 and older: 250yard swim, 10 mile bike, 2.25 mile run; chil-dren’s distances vary by age group. 8 a.m. May20, Veterans Memorial Park, 186 RecreationRd. $50 adults, $45 children; $5 discount be-fore May 15. www.fivestarntp.com, (770) 596-7154.

Iron Girl Atlanta Women’s Triathlon, Bu-ford. 1/3 mi. swim, 19 mile bike, 3 mi. run, 7a.m. May 20, Lake Lanier Islands Resort, 7000Lake Lanier Islands Pkwy. $127; $12 discountUSAT members. www.irongirl.com.

Beast of the East Half Steelman Triathlon,Hayesville, N.C. /Hiawassee. Swim 1.2 mi,bike 53 miles, run 13 miles, 7:30 a.m. May 20,Clay County Recreation Park, Myers ChapelRd. Individuals $115 by Feb. 20, $145 Feb. 20-May 10; $155 after or day of race. Relays$150/$180/$195. www.thebeastoftheeast.net.,www.active.com

Summer Sizzler Triathlon, Gainesville. 500yard swim, 15 mile bike, 5K run, 7 a.m. June10, Lake Lanier Olympic Venue, 3105 ClarksBridge Rd. Individuals $72 by May 27, $92after; relays $125/$145. USAT member dis-count. Additional on-line and mail in registra-tion fees. www.gamultisports.com, (770)926-2367.

Brenau Masters Swim Team, Gainesville.Practice and competitive program for masters

swimmers of all levels, high school age andolder. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 6-7 a.m.,Brenau University Natatorium,Washington/Prior St. $60 month. (770) 532-6279, bbachman@brenau.edu.Note: Triathlons fill up quickly. Early registra-tion is encouraged.

Grounded pursuits:Planetarium Show “No Place Like Home,”

Dahlonega. Program explores possi-bilities of other earth worlds.Doors open 7:30 p.m., show be-gins 8 p.m. Fridays (exceptMarch 16) through April 20,George E. Coleman, Sr. Planetar-ium, North Georgia College &State University, Room 234Health & Natural SciencesBuilding, Sunset Dr. No late seating. Off-siteobservatory open after show, weather permit-ting. Free. (706) 864-1471, www.northgeor-gia.edu/planetarium.

First Saturday Hike, Gainesville. Natural-ist-led hike in Chicopee Woods, 10-11:30 a.m.Feb. 4, Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125Elachee Dr. Adults $5, 2-12, $3, younger than 2and Elachee members free. www.elachee.org,(770) 535-1976.

Trail Crew Work Day, Gainesville. Bringwater, lunch and gloves for trail maintenancework, tools provided, ages 18 and older, 10a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 4, Elachee Nature ScienceCenter, 2123 Elachee Dr. Call to register.www.elachee.org, (770) 535-1976.

8-50 mile bike rides, Gainesville. Easy tostrenuous loop rides with Chicken City Cy-clists, 10 a.m. Feb. 4 & 11, Dewberry Church,Clarks Bridge Rd. Free. (770) 534-7075, un-noldl@charter.net.

Lace Up & Live Strong 5K, Suwanee. 5K 8a.m. and fun run, 9:30 a.m. Feb. 4, North Gwin-nett Church, 4369 West Price Rd. 5K $25 byJan. 28, $28 after; fun run $12.www.active.com, (678) 985-3921.

Lanier Running Club, Gainesville. Clubmeeting, 7 p.m. Feb. 6, Johnny’s Pizza, 204Carrington Park Dr.www.lanierrunningclub.org.

ISI Cycling, Gainesville. Group bicyclerides all speeds and levels, 7:30 a.m. Saturdays;fast pace ride 7:30 a.m. Sundays, Corinth Bap-tist Church, Thompson Bridge/Mt. Vernon Rd;

30-60 mile rides all speeds and levels, 1 p.m.Kroger shopping center, 3630 ThompsonBridge Rd. Free. www.isicycling.com.

Triathlon Club, Gainesville. Call or emailfor information about group bike rides, swimclinics, runs. (770) 532-2453,www.gobaxters.com.

Chicken City Cyclists, Gainesville. Clubmeeting, 6 p.m. Feb. 9, Pasquales ItalianRestaurant, 1011 Riverside Dr. (770) 534-7075,unnoldl@charter.net.

Spartan 5K/1-mile Sprint, Athens. 5K 9a.m, sprint 10 a.m. Feb. 11, Athens Academy,1281 Spartan Ln. $15 by Jan. 31, $20 after.www.runningintheusa.com, (706) 549-9225.

Hemlock Update & Winter Botany, Helen.Progress report on treatment of wooly adelgidinfestation of Eastern hemlocks; winter plantidentification demonstration, noon-4 p.m. Feb.11, Smithgall Woods State Park, 61 Tsalaki Trl.Register in advance. $10 plus $5 parking.www.gastateparks.org, (706) 878-3087.

The Great Valentine Race 5K, Cumming.8:30 a.m. Feb. 11, Forsyth Conference Center,7544 Majors Rd. $22, $19 age 13 & under,team discounts. www.fivestarntp.com. (770)633-5511.

Sweetheart Sprint 5K, Suwanee. 9 a.m.Feb. 11, Suwanee Town Center, 330 Town Cen-ter Ave. $25. www.active.com, (404) 583-1595.

Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge, Bu-ford. Participants plunge into Lake Lanier toraise pledge money for Special Olympics, 11a.m. registration, 1 p.m. costume contest, 2p.m. plunge Feb. 18, Lanier World at SunsetCove, Lake Lanier Islands Resort, 7000 LanierIslands Pkwy. www.polarplungega.com., (770)414-9390, Ext. 119.

Frosty 5K, 11K, Trail Runs, Jefferson. Funrun 2:30 p.m., 5K 3 p.m., 11K to follow, Feb.18, Crows Lake, 155 Crows Lake Dr. $20 byFeb.11, $25 after. Online registration by Feb.12 www.connectrace.com. Information: tcor-bett@jeffcityschools.org.

Annual Fireside Art & Craft Show, Helen.Indoor juried showcase of Southeastern crafts,10 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 18-19, Unicoi State Park,1788 Hwy 356. $5 parking. www.gas-tateparks.org, (800) 573-9659, Ext. 305.

Overwintering Hummingbirds,

Gainesville. Hummingbird expert Rusty Trumplectures at Elachee Nature Science Center, 7-9p.m. Feb. 23, 2125 Elachee Dr. $5, free toElachee members. www.elachee.org (770) 535-1976.

Southern Cross, Dahlonega. 50-mile cy-clocross or mountain bike endurance race, 10a.m., tandem 8 a.m., Feb. 25, Montaluce Win-ery, 501 Hightower Church Rd. $80, tandem$160. www.bikereg.com, (404) 432-5841.

Xterra Thrills in the Hills Trail Run,Winder. 21K, 42K trail runs, 8:30 a.m. Feb. 25,Fort Yargo State Park, Entrance B, 210 SouthBroad St. 21K $35 by Feb. 12, $40 after; 42K$45/$50; add $10 race day registration.www.active.com, www.dirtyspokes.com.

Orienteering Meet, Helen. Find hidden con-trols in woods using map and compass, 10a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 25, Smithgall Woods StatePark, 61 Tsalaki Trl. $2, plus $5 parking.www.gastateparks.org, (706) 878-3087.

Falconry at Buck Shoals, Helen. Learnabout art of falconry with Georgia Falconry As-sociation, includes presentation, live hunt, 2-5p.m. Feb. 26, Smithgall Woods State Park, 61Tsalaki Trl. Register in advance. $20 by Feb.10, $25 after; free for kids. $5 parking.www.gastateparks.org, (706) 878-3087.

Appalachian Trail Celebration, Backpack-ing Clinic, Dawsonville. Tales of trail adven-tures, demonstrations, workshops on AT hiking,March 2-4, Amicalola Falls State Park, 418Amicalola Falls State Park Rd. $5 parking.www.gastateparks.org, (706) 265-1969.

CASA Superhero 5K/1K Run/Walk, Cum-ming. 8 a.m. March 3, Fowler Park, 4110 Caro-lene Way. $25 5K, $10 1K.www.forsythcountycasa.org, (404) 590-3278.

Challenged Child 5K, 1-Mile Run/Walk,Gainesville. 1-mile 2 p.m., 5K 2:30 p.m. March4, Riverside Military Academy, 2001 RiversideDr. $25 by Feb. 18, $30 after. www.run-ningintheusa.com, (770) 535-8372.

Mountain Biking Basics Series, Helen.Four part skill building and ride series withWoody’s Mountain Bikes; bikes and helmetsprovided, 1-3 pm. Sundays March 4-25, Smith-gall Woods State Park, 61 Tsalaki Trl. $100,plus $5 parking. www.gastateparks.org, (706)

MORE INFO: Additions/corrections, email lakesidenews@mindspring.com

at Longwood Park takes about 2.5hours. Add time to stop and pon-der some of the following:Pedestrian Bridge – The 10-footwide concrete pedestrian overpassabove Jesse Jewell Parkway is ex-pected to open in late March.Originally scheduled to open lastfall, completion was delayed bynew standards set by the GeorgiaDepartment of Transportationafter failed epoxy caused fencingto fall from an Atlanta bridge.Barclay Fouts, pedestrian bridgeproject manager for the city ofGainesville, reported that theepoxy must be set in warmweather. The 263 feet span tiesinto city property betweenGainesville City Hall and GeorgiaMountains Center on its northlanding. The other end extendsinto property owned by

Gainesville City Center, LLC., aprivate company with plans tobuild a multi-story office com-plex, hotel and convention center.The $2.2 million pedestrianbridge is financed by the devel-oper, with an agreement that thecity will repay the cost when thecomplex is built, according toGainesville Mayor Danny Duna-gan. It will eventually connect tothe one-mile Midtown Greenway,some of which is expected toopen by April. Gainesville Parksand Recreation Director MelvinCooper said a long range planprojects a 14-mile trail that wouldinclude the existing greenwaysand a loop between the city andGainesville State College.

Downtown Gainesville Square –On the southeast corner of thehistoric Gainesville square, reno-

vated in 2007, walkers can em-bark on a scale model walkingtour of the solar system, begin-ning with the monument to TheSun. Installed in 2000 as a Mil-lennium Project by Robert Webband the North Georgia AstronomyClub and financed by localgroups, businesses and schools,the planet walk extends throughLongwood Park and featuresplaques etched with facts aboutthe planets and other celestialbodies.

Rock Creek Park – The sitemarks the beginning of RockCreek Greenway. The Rock CreekGreenway starts at the corner ofWest Academy and NorthsideDrive.Ivey Terrace – Located betweenAdair Street and Ridgewood Ter-race, the city’s oldest park was

once believed to be the site of theoriginal Mule Camp Springs,which became the city ofGainesville in 1821. Early recordslist it as Gainesville’s only park in1924. In the 1930s, the CivilianConservation Corps built stonestructures and trails that remaintoday. In 1976, the city con-structed a replica of Mule CampSprings in the park. It was re-moved in the early 1980s, due to

erosion and vandalism. These ele-ments continued to blight the parkuntil stream bank repairs, erosioncontrol, and trail constructionwere phased in from 2002-2006.Wilshire Trails – Dedicated in1982 and reconditioned in 1997,the park between Ridgewood Ter-race and Pearl Nix Parkway fea-tures overlooks, pavilions,playgrounds, and butterfly andhummingbird gardens.

See Outdoor calendar, page 44

2012 Events on Rock Creek Greenway• Bark in the Park – 2 p.m. March 24, Rock Creek Amphitheatre• Butterfly Release – Wilshire Trails, May 20• Trick or Treat on the Trail – Rock Creek & Ivy Terrace Park, Oct. 27

Regular Greenway Users:• Gainesville High School tennis and cross country teams• City and County School Systems• USTA and Northeast Georgia Tennis Associations• 35,000-plus citizens

44 LAKESIDE February 2012

MORE INFO: www.lanierstriperclub.com

• Outdoor calendarContinued from page 43

Expires 3-15-2012Please present coupon after

you receive your quote.

Expires 3-15-2012Please present coupon after

you receive your quote.

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• Expert Marine Repair

• Over 25 Years Experience

• Factory Trained Service on:Mercruiser, Mercury, OMC and Volvo Penta

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Vesper’s Marine Service548 Station TrailDawsonville, GA 30534Phone: 678-557-4468Fax: 770-887-4468

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878-3087.Wildlife Show, Winder. Demonstration with

native and exotic animals, 6-7 p.m. March 10,Campground 1 Amphitheatre, Fort Yargo StatePark, 210 S. Broad St. $3, plus $5 parking.www.gastateparks.org, (678) 963-8891.

Basic Land Navigation, Helen. Lesson onnavigation with map and compass, discussionof GPS vs. compass, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. March 10,Smithgall Woods State Park, 61 Tsalaki Trl.$15, plus $5 parking. www.gastateparks.org,(706) 878-3087.

Fallen Heroes of Georgia 5K/ 10K/1K, Bu-ford. 8 a.m. March 17, Lake Lanier Islands Re-sort, 7000 Lake Lanier Islands Pkwy. 1K $15,5K $25, 10K $30. www.active.com, (678) 794-6135.

Bark in the Park, Gainesville. Dog gamesand contests 2-4 p.m. March 24, Rock CreekPark Amphitheatre, Academy/Northside Dr.Spectators free, $5 per dog contest.www.gainesville.org/recreation, (770) 531-2680.

- Compiled by Jane Harrison

Lanier Striper Club recognizedfor community service work

Giving back is one of the things theLanier Striper Club does best.Whether organizing the fall lake-wide Funfest or pitching in torepair and improve courtesydocks for better access to thelake, these guys are all aboutcommunity service.

At the club’s annual meeting inDecember, officials from the USArmy Corps of Engineers presented spe-cial awards to club members who haveworked at Corps parks to revamp docks.Those recognized included Jerry Bagwell,Tom Blackburn, Buck Cannon, Bill

Chasey, Ron Howard, Joe Kuhr, CraigPippen, Dan Saknini, Jack Scales

and Don Skinner.The next meeting of the

Lanier Striper Club will be onTuesday, February 7, atRoanoke Baptist Church, ap-

proximately one-half mile westof the dam on Buford Dam Rd.

Dinner at 6:30 p.m.; the meeting be-gins at 7 p.m. Guests are welcome; dinneris $10.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 45

Lakeview DiningBig Creek Tavern - Lunch, dinner andbreakfast at 10 a.m. on Sundays. Open yeararound. Featuring the “Best” Angus Beef, astep up from old-fashioned American food.Billiards, video games, beer, wine, liquor.Buford. B-3, 678-482-1662.Bullfrogs Bar & Grille - Located at LegacyLodge & Conference Center at Lake LanierIslands Resort. Open for lunch and dinnerdaily. Dine poolside or indoors. Selections in-clude salads, sandwiches, entrees, dessertsand a variety of drink options from full-serv-ice bar. Guests may arrive by boat or car. Bu-ford. B-3, 770-945-8787.Castaways - Holiday Marina. Offering rawand steamed seafood, salads, sandwiches,baskets and entrees, such as seared tunasashimi, Gulf Coast oysters and Cajun black-ened Mahi Mahi. Seasonal seafood: crawfish,stone crabs and soft-shell crabs. Full bar serv-ice. Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11a.m.to 9 p.m. C-3 678-765-8300.Dockside Grill - Offering full lake views ofLanier in a casual outdoor setting. New thisyear: covered deck and furniture. Featuringthe famous Docker burger, sandwiches in-cluding grouper, tuna and mahi and expandedseafood and salad offerings. Aqualand Ma-rina, Flowery Branch. C-3, 770-363-2318.Fish Tales Lakeside Grille - Casual lakesidedining featuring grouper fingers, signaturesalads and much more. Full service indoorand outdoor bar with live music. Expandedpatio and new TVs. Open for lunch and din-ner everyday during spring & summer, week-ends fall & winter. Hideaway Bay Marina.C-3, 770-967-3775.Pelican Pete’s - Picturesque dining right onthe water at Port Royale in an open-airthatched-roof building. Selection of sand-wiches, burgers, fish and more. Sun-Thu 11a.m. to 9 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. B-2, 770 887-5715 ext. 5. Pier 29 - Located on Lake Lanier at lakemarker 29 opposite Browns Bridge. Newlyrenovated family friendly restaurant with aseparate bar and dining patio with live music.Open for lunch and dinner, seven days aweek. Offering fish, shrimp, steak, burgers,wings, and hand-spun milkshakes. EveryMonday, buy 10 wings get 10 free. Docksidedelivery available at restaurant’s courtesydock as well as delivery to Port Royal Marina.www.pier29onlanier.com, 770-781-2242.(Former Lantern Inn location.)Sandwich Market - Offers sandwiches, pitawraps, gyros & lahvosh. Baldridge Marina,Cumming. Seasonal. 770-889-2185.Skogies - Specializing in seafood and Amer-ican fare. Open 7 days a week. GainesvilleMarina, C-1, 678-450-1310. Sunset Cove Beach Club - An open-aireatery on a quiet stretch of beach near Chat-tahoochee Rapids at Lake Lanier Islands Re-sort. Open for lunch and dinner. Views of thelake during the day or dine under the stars inthe glow of firelight from the fireplace. Comeby car or boat. Also at Sunset Cove, Dog andDraft features 12 beers on draft, plus hotdogs, brats and sausage in pretzel buns. Fireand Ice kiosk offers smoked barbecue andburgers. On the waterpark side, Gianni’s

Italian Bistro serves pizza, subs and pasta.By water, Sunset Cove is between buoys7SC and 5SC. www.lakelanierislands.com.Buford. B-3, 770-945-8787.Windows Restaurant - Located at LegacyLodge & Conference Center at Lake LanierIslands Resort and overlooks Lake Lanier.Provides breakfast buffet, and menu optionsdaily and special dining events every Satur-day night throughout the season. Guests mayarrive by boat or car. Buford. B-3, www.lake-lanierislands.com. 770-945-8787.

AmericanAustin’s Steak and Seafood - Specialties in-clude seafood, premium aged steaks andchops, baby-back ribs, chicken and pasta.Open daily, lunch and dinner. Full bar. Cum-ming. A-3, 770-844-0902.Collegiate - Old-fashioned hamburgers, hotdogs and milk shakes served in 1940s setting.Gainesville. C-2, 678-989-2280.CooCoos Nest - Open for lunch, dinner andSunday Brunch offering wings, salads com-plimented by fresh meats hand cut daily fromFergusons Meat Market. Also featuringsteaks, chops and seafood. House favoritesinclude beer battered fries, hooch beans (abattered and fried green bean), Cuban sand-wich and the Quesadilla Burger. Live enter-tainment weekly. Located at GA 400, Exit16, Pilgrim Mill Rd. at Freedom Pkwy.Cumming. A-3, 678-456-8932; www.coocoonest.com.Foster House - Lunch and dinner servedfamily-style featuring casual dining at lunchand fine dining in evening. Lunch served 11-2:30, Mon.-Fri. Dinner served 5-8:30 p.m.,Thurs.; 5-9:30 p.m. Fri./Sat. Cumming. A-3,770-887-9905.Norman’s Landing - Specializing in freshseafood, hand-cut steaks, Canadian baby-back ribs with Kansas City barbecue sauce.Cumming. Casual. A-3, 770-886-0100.Two Dog Café – Classic small town dinerwith an emphasis on fresh food and fast serv-ice for lunch and dinner. Located at 317Spring St. Gainesville. C-2, 770-287-8384.Wild Wing Café – Offers casual dining, livemusic, special Monday Trivia Night and 2Fer Tuesday nights (buy a dozen, get a dozenwings free). Located at 311 Jesse JewellPkwy., Gainesville. C-2, 770-536-9177.Yahoola Creek Grill – Features Southern-inspired, made-from-scratch cooking fromour outdoor deck, cozy dining room and loft.Full beer and wine list. Lunch and dinner,Wed.-Sat. Open for brunch and supper onSunday. Closed Mon./Tues. Located on S.Chestatee St., Dahlonega. 706-482-2200;www.yahoolacreekgrill.com.

Continental/Fine DiningAdam’s - Offering American Mediterraneancuisine including Rack of Lamb, Calf’s LiverAnglaise, Mediterranean Chicken Penne,Oysters Rockefeller, and Seafood PastillaRolls. Full bar. Dinner Mon.-Sat. 5-10:30p.m. 15 East Main St., Buford, B-3. 678 754-0379.Aqua Terra Bistro - European fusion cui-sine served daily. Open for lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; noon-2:30 p.m., Sat.;dinner hours are 5-10 p.m., Mon.-Sun. Lo-cated on Buford’s historic Main Street. No

reservations. B-3, 770-271-3000.Blue Bicycle – a bistro touting “great food ina place not to feel rushed.” Open for lunchThurs./Fri.; open for dinner Tues.-Sat. Reser-vations are suggested. Located at 671 Lump-kin Campground Road, behind the OutletMall on 400. Dawsonville. 706-265-2153.Corkscrew Café - Fine dining featuring var-ied menu choices, open lunch and dinner.Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Tues.-Thurs.;11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri./Sat.; noon-9 p.m.,Sun. Reservations suggested. Located on 51West Main St., Dahlonega. 706-867-8551.Dominick’s Italian Restaurant - Featurescuisine from the north of Italy, with veal,chicken and seafood dishes. Favorites includechicken saltimbocca and garlic bread appe-tizer. Half-price bottles of wine on Mondaynights, half-price appetizers from 5 to 7 p.m.on Tuesdays and endless pasta and salad onWednesdays. Dominick’s is open Mondaythru Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunchand dinner from 5 until 9:30 p.m. Located atthe corner of Buford Hwy. and Hamilton MillRd in the Buford Village Shopping Center.770-614-0019, Buford. B-3.Firesalt Tavern - Fine-dining restaurant in acasual atmosphere and a café-to-go. Café fea-tures gourmet coffee, to-go items and fullbreakfast and lunch. Restaurant features finesteaks, shrimp and grits, fresh seafood in-cluding scallops and salmon. Open Mon-Sun.Café to go is open for breakfast and lunch;tavern is open for lunch and dinner. Cornerof Buford Hwy. and Hamilton Mill Rd in theBuford Village Shopping Center. 770-932-6284, Buford. B-3.Luna’s - Continental cuisine, romantic at-mosphere. Gainesville. C-2, 770-531-0848.Oar House in Dahlonega - Specialties: hand-cut steaks, seafood dishes and homemadedesserts. Located Hwy 52E, 4 miles east ofDahlonega. Reservations suggested. 706-864-9983.

Poor Richard’s - Specializing in Prime Rib,steaks, ribs and fresh seafood. Casual dining,dinner only. Full-service bar. Gainesville. C-1, 770-532-0499.Scott’s on the Square - Upscale casual am-bience with specialty sandwiches for lunchand gourmet entrees for dinner. Gainesvillesquare. C-2. 770-536-1111.

Barbecue/Country/Home CookingJohnny’s BBQ - Real Pit BBQ pork, chicken& ribs. Brunswick stew. Minutes from Clark’sBridge rowing venue. Gainesville. Casual. D-1, 770-536-2100Old McDonald’s BBQ - Real Pit BBQ,Brunswick stew, ribs. Minutes from LakeLanier. Casual. Buford. B-3, 770-945-3431.

DeliCommon Grounds Coffee Shoppe - Lightbreakfast, lunch and dinner and desserts fol-lowed by fresh roasted coffee. FloweryBranch. C-3, 770-967-4080.

ItalianBiBa's Italian Restaurant - Featuring pasta,pizzas, salads, chicken, veal and seafood spe-cialties. Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday andSaturday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday throughThursday. Gainesville, C-2. 678-450-1661.Piazza - Features traditional Italian dishes,homemade raviolis, pizza, chicken, veal andseafood specialities. Open seven days aweek: 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri./Sat. Located on 24 East MainSt., Dahlonega. 706-867-9881.

MexicanLa Cazuela - An Atlanta area landmarkthat’s expanded to two locations aroundLanier. Features fajitas, selection of combi-nation platters and more. Cumming, 678-947-0718, Buford, 770-614-6871.

OrientalLittle Tokyo - Japanese dining - hibachi grill,sushi. Dine in, take out. Open Tues. - Fri.10:30 am - 10:30 pm; Sat-Sun 12 pm-10 pm;Closed Mon. Buford. B-4, 770-945-3350.

Lakeside’s Dining Guide

46 LAKESIDE February 2012

By Jane Harrison

Linda Dragonette wakeseach morning wonder-ing what she will see.

Then she decides whether shewill embark on colorful visionaryjourneys to a country lane, wiste-ria draped oaks, or a complete ab-straction.

The award winning artist whodraws inspiration from LakeLanier paints quickly these daysand has several oil and pastelworks in progress in the studioupstairs at her home on the lake.

“I feel I have to hurry up everypainting,” said Dragonette, who islegally blind and gradually losingher remaining vision to retinitispigmentosa. “I paint every day. Itis very tiring, but the will is there.My eyes are shot at the end of theday.”

As the disease has slowly dete-riorated her peripheral vision, theversatile artist has adapted medi-ums easier on her eyes. Frompainstakingly applied quill andink stippling to her nationally ac-claimed work in oil and pastels,she has adjusted her mode to con-

tinue painting as her focus nar-rows into a tunnel.

In her current exhibit of oiland pastel paintings at the Quin-lan Visual Arts Center inGainesville, visitors can observevivid, multi-colored strokes thatburst forth with scenes from herlakeside property and renderingsof people she has met.

Observers of her Quinlanpaintings marvel that the brightand expressive paintings of snap-dragons, poppies, a handsomewine sommelier and downtroddenguitarist are the work of a vision-impaired artist. “Knowing herbackground, they find her workinspirational,” said Paula Linder,Quinlan assistant director. “Shecaptures color in a way we takefor granted … (The paintings)have a calmness, a tranquilityabout them, almost an accept-ance,” she said. Instead of a pho-tographic realism, the brilliantcolors evoke a “dream-liketrance,” she said.

Dragonette paints from photo-graphs she and Mike, her husbandof 38 years, snap on their ram-

blings about their six and a halfacres on a northern lake cove andtrips around the region. She re-turns from their ventures withhundreds of digital pictures, manyof which she prints and studiesfor their composition merit oncanvas.

She then attaches her chosenpicture to her easel with an ad-justable metal arm and puts onher magnifying goggles beforestroking a quick study in pastel.Occasionally she lowers a smallcircular magnifying glass over hertwo-layer goggles for a closerfocus.

Her husband, a semi-retiredbuilder she calls her “man of vi-sion,” designed both the photoclamp and goggles and their Ital-ian palazzo style home with soar-ing ceilings, babbling waterfeatures, and expansive windows.A magnificent tile painting ofvased irises, roses and daisies,pastel and oil illustrations of gui-tarists, and a gurgling fountainflowing from a rustic beer barrelattest to their combined creativity.

The couple moved toGainesville about 15 years agofrom Marietta, where the 20-yearprofessional artist had already es-tablished herself in local and na-tional galleries. Looking for anabode on the lake, they found thepicturesque acres on a quiet cove,where Mike transformed an oldbarn and boathouse into its pres-ent showcase of their talent.

“I love living here,” Drag-onette said on a rainy late January

Shore LinesFrom the fascinating to the remarkable, Lake Lanier harbors

many personalities and places along its shores. Lakeside pres-ents “Shore Lines” – stories about people who live, work andplay around the lake and the places that make the area special.

Linda Dragonette works on a pastel painting of a waterfall in herstudio. She draws inspiration from her surroundings on Lake Lanier.

Artist captures scenes on canvas as vision narrows

PHOTOS BY JANE HARRISON

A sample of Linda Dragonette's exhibit at the Quinlan Visual Arts Cen-ter displays the versatility of the Gainesville artist, many of whosepaintings depict scenes and people from the region.

PHOTO BY JANE HARRISON

afternoon when every win-dow framed a misty portraitof a faint blue cove, drippingdormant branches and anevergreen trimmed driveway.

“I have painted this prop-erty morning, noon and nightin every season and all kindsof weather,” Dragonette said.Her pastels and oils of pearand peach trees, black wal-nuts and pecan trees, Canadageese and snapdragons dis-play the ethereal beauty of natureoutside her windows, brought inon the photographs she viewsthrough her glasses.

Dragonette, whose mother alsopainted, grew up in Miami andbegan experiencing vision prob-lems as a child. Undeterred, shedeveloped her artistry throughbook studies and workshops. Shesaid that although she enrolled inseveral colleges, she decidedagainst an academic route.

“I was already in 11 galleries,working and selling. I had myown style and was recognized,”she said. She models her use ofbrilliant colors against dark back-grounds after Rembrandt’s juxta-position of light upon dark tohone a focal point.

She anticipates her focus willchange with her vision. She aban-doned the tedium of stippling,which took 80 hours to completeeach piece, to concentrate on oilsand pastels. Although she stillpaints in oil, her current focus ispastel, which she said enables herto see color “in a whole new

light.” As her sight diminishes,she expects she will render moreabstract paintings of the blurringworld and people around her.

In late January, the petite 58-year-old spoke excitedly abouther dilemma over which threepaintings to submit to the South-eastern Pastel Society for poten-tial exhibit at its InternationalJuried Exhibition at OglethorpeUniversity in May.

She studied a pastel of a treeemblazoned with orange foliagealongside a barn and country lanein the “horse country” betweenWoodstock and Crabapple. Shepointed out another pastel inprogress depicting a frolickingsplash of water cascading overrocks near Cashiers. And she pon-dered her “Wisteria Explosion” inthe Quinlan exhibit showing lav-ish lavenders bursting into bloomoutside her studio window.

She’s in a hurry, she said, tomeet the submission deadline inearly spring. And, the rush en-dures to capture life’s brillianceon canvas before darkness falls.

Linda Dragonette’s ExhibitsLinda Dragonett’s paintings have been exhibited at regional, na-

tional and international exhibitions. She is Member of Excellenceand award winner in the Southeastern Pastel Society and Pastel So-ciety of North Florida. She is also a member of the Degas Pastel So-ciety and Pastel Society of the West Coast and juried member of OilPainters of America and Landscape Artists International.Quinlan Visual Art Center: Exhibition through Feb. 19, 514 GreenSt., Gainesville. Free. www.quinlanartscenter.org.Other Georgia galleries: She currently has paintings at Frame-works Gallery, 1205 Johnson Ferry, Marietta; Watson Gallery FineArt & Framing, 198 14th St., Atlanta. Her collectors include theWoodruff Arts Center, Bank of North Georgia in Buford, HumaneSociety of Hall County, First Baptist Church of Gainesville.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 47

Then sign up to freeze for a reason in the chillywaters of LanierWorld at Sunset Cove on February18 in the third annual Polar Plunge to supportSpecial Olympics Georgia.

Prizes will be awarded for the best costume, high-est fundraiser, highest fundraising team, andmore!

All you have to do is register and encourage yourfriends to donate to your fundraising page.

For those with warm hearts but don't like the polarbear habitat some warmer features are offered:heated areas and warm concessions.

Visit www.SpecialOlympicsGA.org for more information.

ON PLUNGE DAY:11 am - Registration & Activities Open1 pm - ALL Plungers must be registered1 pm -1:30 pm - Costume Contest on Beach 1:30 pm - Plunge Program, Safety Briefing

& Awards2 pm - PLUNGE TIME!

Got guts and a warm heart?

48 LAKESIDE February 2012

Reynolds Plantation is shining star of middle GeorgiaListening to the mellow trum-

pet sounds of world-renownedmusician Phil Driscoll as I peeredacross Lake Oconee in the fadinglight, I thought to myself, “This isthe way to live!” At the time, Iwas a visitor at Phil’s house in-side the exclusive Reynolds Plan-tation as a guest of localmagazine editor and well-knownsocialite, Kim Jackson.

The party was a hush-hushbirthday bash for Phil that wascleverly organized by his beauti-ful wife Lynne as a surprise. Itwas complete with superb cui-sine, more than 100 friends thatranged from local residents anddignitaries to famous musicianslike trumpet player Chuck Find-ley from California. Therefore, itseemed only natural that an im-promptu jam session burst forthout on the manicured lawn next tothe lake and included Phil playingwith Chuck, and Joe Gransdenand his Big Band. It was an awe-some show!

During the midst of thisunique gathering, I had the oppor-tunity to drift into a conversationwith the man whose vision madeReynolds Plantation a reality.Mercer Reynolds is a quiet, digni-fied gentleman who could havestepped out of Tara in Gone Withthe Wind. His family’s roots godeep in the area around LakeOconee and Greene County fromcottonseed oil to the timber andreal estate businesses.

When Lake Oconee was builtin 1979, the Reynolds family al-ready owned a large tract of land,which was the family hunting re-treat. When the lake was finished,they found this acreage included

many miles of prime, lakefrontproperty. So, they formed a devel-opment company and named itLinger Longer, after their grand-father’s hunting lodge on Rich-land Creek. Along with his cousinJamie, Mercer began buildingReynolds Plantation during the1980s. Like other developmentsduring our current economicdownturn, Reynolds Plantationhas weathered unforeseen prob-lems, but it is still one of the mostbeautiful places to live in thePeach State. Located abouthalfway between Atlanta and Au-gusta and three hours from theGeorgia Coast, it is the perfect lo-cation for a home.

Inside the gates of ReynoldsPlantation today resides a diversecommunity of people who havefound refuge here along the banksof placid Lake Oconee. Comingfrom all over the country and theworld, some owners are part timeresidents while others have beenso taken by the charm andlifestyle at Reynolds Plantationand the surrounding area that theyhave made this their permanenthome.

Self-organized clubs aboundthat only add to the abundant ac-tivities and world-class amenities.These include six picturesquegolf courses designed by JackNicklaus, Tom Fazio, Bob Cupp,Rees Jones, and Jim Engh. In ad-dition, the Plantation has fourmarinas, four clubhouses, anaward-winning tennis center, afitness center, walking and bikingtrails, and six mouthwateringrestaurants.

To top it all off, the Ritz-Carl-ton Lodge has 251 guest roomsand a 26,000 square foot spa,where I experienced a soothing,deep body massage on my visit.The Lodge also provides the pos-sibility for newcomers to learnabout the Reynolds Plantationlifestyle with “Discovery Pack-ages.” This includes deluxerooms, two rounds of golf or aspa treatment, access to most ofthe facilities, and all meals.

For reservations or informationabout this opportunity, call toll-free (800) 800-5250 orwww.ReynoldsPlantation.com.

For outdoor enthusiasts,Reynolds Plantation has 374miles of shoreline with great fish-ing, boating, and nature. While Iwas there, I visited the Heritageand Nature Center and soaked inthe knowledge of Naturalist NickMahlberg. We went on a kayaktour that included fascinating na-ture walks through lakesideforests to see historical and geo-logical sites. It was educational,invigorating, and with the chang-ing fall colors, extremely photo-graphic.

One of the mornings at thePlantation, I had the opportunityto wet a line with local fishingguide Norris Edge. We caught avariety of fish and enough bass

BillVanderford

TravelEditor

PHOTOS BY BILL VANDERFORD

PHOTOS BY BILL VANDERFORD

Cotton is still king near ReynoldsPlantation.

The Ritz Carlton Lodge at Lake Oconee.

MORE INFO:770-289-1543

JFish51@aol.comwww.fishinglanier.com

Kayaking along 40Acre Rock (above).

A Blue Heron atReynolds Plantation.

PHOTOS BY BILL VANDERFORD

Naturalist Nick Mahlberg(left) points out our loca-tion at the Rock Hawk In-dian Heritage site (above)near Reynolds Plantation.

and sunfish to feed six people thatnight at the Plantation Clubhousewhere Chef Eric prepared ourcatch into three different and verytasty courses.

Less than a half hour fromReynolds Plantation, visitors canmeander through the eclecticshops and view the many Ante-bellum homes in the historic townof Madison. This is one of onlytwo villages in Georgia thatweren’t burned to the ground onGeneral Sherman’s famous Marchto the Sea near the end of theCivil War. Also, close by isEatonton, which was the birth-

place of Joel Chandler Harris.Here you will find the UncleRemus Museum which is worth avisit.

It’s a shame that I only had afew days to visit Reynolds Planta-tion to enjoy the unforgettablecontrast of heritage, naturalbeauty, outdoor possibilities, andfantastic amenities. It is certainlya place I will remember fondly!

Bill Vanderford has won nu-merous awards for his writingand photography, and has beeninducted into the National Fresh-water Fishing Hall of Fame as aLegendary Guide.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 49

50 LAKESIDE February 2012

MORE INFO: 404 668-8916captpaddy@gmail.com

Breast cancer survivor travels the world with new perspectiveBy Pamela A. Keene

Ten years ago, Braselton resi-dent Nancy Crawford was diag-nosed with breast cancer, and itchanged her life – but not in theway so many breast cancer sur-vivors are changed. Crawford,now in her early 60s, has becomean athletic ambassador for breastcancer survivors around theglobe.

Two years after her surgery,she joined a special group of sur-vivors and became a member ofDragon Boat Atlanta. The 22-member all-female team, nowcalled the “Steel Magnolias,”came together in 2004 at the LakeLanier Olympic Center to trainfor Atlanta’s Dragon Boat festivalthat September. Eight monthslater, she and her 21 teammatesjourneyed to Vancouver, BritishColumbia, Canada, for the 10thAnnual International Breast Can-cer Survivors Dragon Boat Festi-val, “10 Years Abreast.”

“That was such an incredibleexperience, meeting so manybreast cancer survivors and travel-ing with my good friends fromAtlanta to represent Georgia in2005,” Crawford said. “I made somany friends on that trip and itinspired me to travel to the inter-national breast cancer events eversince.”

Today, the accountant-turned-athlete shares memories of tripsto Australia, Italy, the Philippinesand Switzerland where she haspaddled with “Pink Sisters,” aninternational dragon boat team.Sometimes she travels with a cou-ple of other “Steel Magnolia”paddlers; she also has venturedabroad solo.

“Even when I go by myself, I

know people wherever we go,”she said. “I paddle internationallywith many women from the inter-national team, plus we alwaysmeet more people – breast cancersurvivors and breast cancer sup-porters – along the way.”

Before embracing dragonboating, Crawford had traveledoverseas twice – to Israel and theHoly Land in 2001 and to Greeceand Turkey in 2002 – both tripswith other congregation membersfrom her church, Christ the KingLutheran in Norcross.

“The trip to Turkey andGreece, “St. Paul’s Journey,”came right after my surgery, andsince I didn’t need chemotherapy,my doctors allowed me to go,”she said. “One of the most mov-ing things about that trip was thehealing service our pastor did onthe site of Greece’s first hospital.It was truly amazing.”

Crawford’s trip to Vancouverwith Dragon Boat Atlanta in 2005opened the door to internationaltravel. She met several membersof the Canadian team and, alongwith two other Dragon Boat At-

lanta paddlers, was asked to jointheir team on Angels Abreastfrom British Columbia. The teamtraveled to Australia in 2007 andparticipated in the Venice, Italy,34th Annual Vogalonga in 2008.It’s an annual non-motorizedboating event that features craftsfrom canoes to Dragon Boats.

“There were 1,600 boats pad-dling and rowing the canals ofVenice,” she said. “The peoplelining the canals chanted ‘USA ...USA … USA’ as we went by. Inreturn, we’d hit our paddles onthe sides of the boat three times,then raise them high and answer‘Salute, Salute,’ – pronounced sahLU tay. It means health and wellbeing.”

In 2009, she journeyed toSwitzerland by way of Paris,where her Pink Sisters interna-tional team lead the “Flower Cer-emony” and then took first placein their dragon boat division.Breast cancer dragon boat eventsin 2010 (Peterborough, Ontario)with Dragon Boat Atlanta and2011 in the Philippines with PinkSisters added to her adventures.

Her 2012 breast cancer dragonboat competition takes place onthe Sea of Galilee. “It’s their firstbig dragon boat event,” she said.“We’ll race there in mid-May andthen travel to another dragon boatrace in Istanbul the next week.”

Not all of Crawford’s racessupport the breast-cancer cause,but the majority of her travels in-volve educating people aboutbreast cancer.

She is an active member ofDragon Boat Atlanta; she servesas the group’s financial director.In addition to the Steel Magno-lias, there’s a breast cancer sup-

port team of family and friendswho often paddle and competedomestically with the Steel Mag-nolias.

“We’ve become a family afterall these years,” she said. “To-gether we all work to make theboat move, and as paddlers – notrowers – we look forward both inour boats and in our lives.”

The Steel Magnolias willbegin practices on the weekendsat the Lanier Olympic Center inlate February or early March toprepare for this year’s AtlantaDragon Boat Festival on LakeLanier.

“Dragon Boat Atlanta is al-ways looking for more members,”

she said. “Right now, there areabout 30 of us. We’ve just appliedfor our 501(c)3 status and hope togrow the organization. Anyone iswelcome as long as they supportthe breast cancer cause.”

People she meets who learn ofher breast cancer generally com-ment sympathetically.

“I quickly tell them that if Ihadn’t had breast cancer, I neverwould have met all these wonder-ful people and traveled to somany great places,” Crawfordsaid. “I never imagined the expe-riences I would have.”

For information about DragonBoat Atlanta, e-mail Crawford atnlcrawford@bellsouth.net.

Gareau joins Paddy’s Marine ServicePaddy’s Marine Service has re-

cently added certified mastertechnician Dave Gareau to itsstaff.

The company is owned byCaptain Dennis Dwyer, a fully li-censed U.S. Coast Guard Masterwith years of experience aroundU.S. waters. Many may remem-ber “Captain Paddy” as the onewho owned and operated“Paddy’s Lanier Princess,” backin the ’90s.

Gareau has more than 35 yearsof experience working in allfacets of boating. He has focusedon service since the ’70s, runninghis own shop on the shores ofLake Erie for 15 years.

The company handles a variety

of services including boat broker-age, and stern to stern service andmaintenance.

Dennis Dwyer (left) and Dave Gareau.

Lanier on the rise: Check your docksWith the good rainfall in

mid- to late January, the lakelevel has risen more than a foot.

Check your dock locationand cables and keep an eye onthem over the next few weeks.

“As a courtesy, particularlyto our members who don't liveon the lake full-time, the LakeLanier Association wants to ad-vise everyone that the lake levelhas changed significantly and isexpected to increase further inthe next few weeks,” the associ-ation said in a broadcast tomembers.

“Stay aware of your dock ca-bles and anchor poles and be

sure they are adjusted ade-quately.”

The Lake Lanier Associa-tion sends periodic e-blasts toits membership about timelynews around the lake.

If you’re not a member, con-sider joining. For information,visit www.lakelanier.org.

The Corps of Engineerspublishes a short-term forecastonline which can be viewed at:Link to lake level forecast.Once you’re on this webpage,click “ACF Lake Elevation and5-Week Forecast” and then,click “Lanier” to display thelake-level chart.

Nancy Crawford at the Great Wallof China.

Dragon Boat teams loading up in Venice.

First at Peachtree City. Nancy Crawford - front, second from right.

February 2012 LAKESIDE 51

See COE, page 55

SteveJohnson

BoatingSafety

Recent tragedy underscores need to learn ‘the basics’The recent grounding of the

cruise ship off Italy is but one ex-ample of the vital need for mar-itime training, especially in “thebasics.” Listening to a passengeron the TV news describe howsome of the ship’s crew was in apanic state and not able to helpthem evacuate the stricken vesselwas a clear indication of the lackof proper crew member prepara-tion.

Standards of Training, Certifi-cation, and Watch-standing(STCW) come in different levelsand were developed to give criti-cal education and experience tothe professional mariners thatman sea going vessels. First en-acted by the International Mar-itime Organization in 1978, theregulation was revised and mademandatory in 1995 for all individ-uals working on commercial ves-sels that visit foreign ports or of acertain tonnage, including cruiseships. The details of the tragicevent will emerge through investi-gation in the weeks and months tocome but one thing is for certain– proper use of STCW wouldhave made the extremely difficultsituation better for some passen-gers and crew, possibly savingmore lives or even averting theaccident altogether.

The absolute best method forsomeone to effectively learn thebasic skill sets onboard is to expe-rience first-hand what it is like toperform firefighting, life raft sur-

vival, abandoning ship, and othertypes of emergencies.

As part of the five-day coursesyllabus for STCW, in addition tothe classroom, students arebrought to a controlled environ-ment in a swimming pool andhave to quickly don life jacketsentering the water in the propermanner. Treading water withoutbuoyant apparatus, deploying alife raft, and righting it from anupside down position beforeboarding also are required to bedemonstrated satisfactorily withthe constant observation and men-toring of an expert instructor.

In addition, marine firefightingat an actual fire academy is some-thing most students vividly re-member for many years. Correctprocedures combating the fire, in-tense heat, and adrenaline, closelymonitored by professional fire-fighters, serves the trainee ex-tremely well in time of realemergency and distress.

Recreational boaters are notrequired to take STCW, however,receiving the training would defi-nitely have a positive impact on

situational awareness and re-sponse to a wide variety of crisissituations. Reaction time is drasti-cally reduced and effectivenessgreatly improved with thismethod of learning.

A classroom or seminar givesan outline of the basic skills re-quired to become proficient and isessential to boating safety. Actualexperience in a simulated envi-ronment, given by qualified pro-fessionals is another useful aspectof instruction and the part of edu-cation that stays with you, provid-ing long term benefit. There isalso a three-day training seminarknown as Basic Safety Coursethat offers many of the valuableskills learned in the longer STCWsyllabus for increased safety andwater survival at a lower cost tothe trainee.

STCW and additional informa-tion detailing the internationalmariner safety training regula-tions can be found atwww.stcw.org orhttp://www.uscg.mil/nmc/.

The best course of action andprevention is to always be pre-pared. Please consider this type oftraining to improve your boatingskills and experience the substan-tial benefits of STCW.

Steve Johnson, US CoastGuard (ret). is with CPO John-son, Inc.

ACF stakeholders initiative moves forwardBy Wilton Rooks

Vice President, LLAForty-two months ago, in

August 2008, a small group ofpeople interested in the watersof the Apalachicola-Chatta-hoochee-Flint River Basin metin LaGrange to explore thequestion: “Can a diverse groupof stakeholders work together toshare a common resource, thewaters of the ACF Basin?”

From that beginning, thegroup has grown to consist ofrepresentatives from water utili-ties, environmental organiza-tions, power companies,agriculture, chambers of com-merce, industries, as well asrecreational advocates, naviga-tion advocates and morethroughout the ACF Basin andin Georgia, Florida and Al-abama. With no power base –except the power of a unifiedvoice – the group has hammeredout governance provisions, in-vestigated issues and has votedto move forward with progres-sive projects to develop solu-tions for shared water usage thathave not been addressed before.

Most recently, the organiza-tion has solicited proposals fortwo major undertakings for2012:

• A Sustainable WaterManagement Plan – Black &Veatch was selected as consult-ants for this project that willperform modeling tasks to as-sess the availability of water inthe ACF Basin to meet the needsof stakeholders. Each stake-holder category, such as recre-ation, water supply,environmental, and more hasbeen asked to document itsneeds for water during both nor-mal weather conditions and dur-ing drought conditions. Theseperformance criteria will beused by B&V to create com-puter models that can determinethe adequacy of water to meetneeds under various climacticconditions.

• An Instream Flow andLake Level Assessment –Atkins Global was selected asconsultants for this project thatwill define the flows and levelsin the various rivers in the ACFBasin to support the environ-mental needs.

Partnership with Lanier Striper Club benefits lake communityCommunity partnerships are

important, and we at the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers trulyappreciate when organizationsand individuals help us accom-plish our mission of good envi-ronmental stewardship.

The Lake Lanier Striper Clubis one of those such organiza-tions, working with the Corps onseveral issues over the years. Re-cent accomplishments include thereplacement of fishing equipmentat our catfish pond, where theclub also assists us with specialfishing outings for youngstersthroughout the year.

This past fall and winter, theclub has undertaken routine main-tenance of our courtesy dockslake wide. Recently I was hon-ored to attend the annual LanierStriper Club meeting and presentawards to eight individuals whowere involved in the dock repairprogram. (See separate story onpage 44 in this issue of Lakeside.)

The work accomplished by theclub represents much more than

the value of the services these in-dividuals provided. Our dock fa-cilities, although important, tendto be infrequently addressed byCorps staff because of morepressing needs lake wide. How-ever, because so many of our visi-tors use these facilities, theirupkeep and replacement bears avery positive impact all year long.

As Lanier’s water level hasdropped during recent months,the majority of courtesy docks inour parks have become unusable.The Club’s work to relocate thecourtesy dock at Balus Creek, oneof the busiest boat ramps on thelake, has been significant. Morethan 120,000 visitors come to

MORE INFO: stevejohnson@navteach.com

Balus Creek each year; the park isa popular site for fishing tourna-ments and is known as a greatmiddle-of-the-lake access point.

The courtesy dock was sittingon dry ground during the monthsof October and November, so theclub reached out to local com-pany Marine Specialties, Inc. tohelp move the dock and providewater access. Relocation of thedock was completed in early De-cember. Now, visitors to BalusCreek Park will find that the cour-tesy dock has been placed on thewater just to the left of the boatramp, making it convenient forboaters to load and unload theirboats. Stepping stones have alsobeen placed on the ground mak-ing the access from ramp to thedock walkway an easy task.

The Corps greatly appreciatesthe willingness of the LanierStriper Club – and other organiza-

Lake Lanier Association

News & Information

MORE INFO: 770-503-7757 www.lakelanier.org

ChrisLovelady

US ArmyCorps ofEngineers

MORE INFO: 770-945-9531www.sam.usace.army.mil/lanier

Search: Lakeside on Lanier

www.lakesidenews.com

In addition, the ACF Stake-holders group is conducting aBest Management Practices sur-vey, in partnership with the CarlVinson Institute at the Univer-sity of Georgia, to define waysfor the waters to be used moreefficiently.

All of these projects have asingle goal of defining more ef-ficient ways to use the waters ofthe ACF Basin so that all userscan benefit. The data developedthrough the SWMP and IFLLAprojects will help inform waterpolicy and water managementoperations.

So 2012 should be a busyyear.

The ACF Stakeholders organ-ization is comprised of an eight-member executive board and a56-member governing board.Each of the four sub-basingroups – Upper Chattahoochee,Middle/Lower Chattahoochee,Flint and Apalachicola – hasequal representation. Industriesrepresented include water sup-ply, farm and urban agriculture,recreation, local government,water quality, industry and man-ufacturing, navigation, hydropower, thermal power, busi-ness/economic development; en-vironmental and conservation,seafood industry, historic andcultural interests. Members arefrom Georgia, Alabama andFlorida.

Follow ACF Stakeholders onits website at www.acfstake-holders.org.

Founded in 1966, the LLA isthe oldest volunteer group work-ing to protect the high waterquality as well as water levelsand to preserve its valuablelegacy for future generations. Itis a 501(C)3 non-profit organi-zation.

52 LAKESIDE February 2012

EXIT 16

EXIT 17

General U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ........770 945-9531 Water Release Schedules................770 945-1466 Recreation/Water level Info .............770 945-1467 DNR, Law Enforcement Division .....800 241-4113Lake Lanier Association Inc. ...........770 503-7757

Boating Safety Courses US Coast Guard Aux. Flotilla 29 ......770 891-6362 Atlanta Sail & Power Squadron.......770 734-6412

Marinas1. Aqualand...................................770 967-6811 2. Bald Ridge ................................770 887-5309 3. Gainesville ................................770 536-2171 4. Habersham ...............................770 887-5432 5. Holiday .....................................770 945-7201 6. Port Royale...............................770 887-5715 7. Lanier Harbor............................770 945-2884 8. Aquamarina Lazy Days .............770 945-1991 9. Hideaway Bay ...........................770 967-5500

10. Sunrise Cove ............................770 536-8599

February 2012 LAKESIDE 53

3 + Acres w/Single Slip Boathouse w/screen porchoverlooking south lake sunsets. Deep water always!!Can divide. OWNER FINANCE. Call Norman

$229,900

$299,750

This is Where Lanier Entertains. Incredible detailed rockwork thru-out this stunning 4BR/3.5BA lake executive home.Too many custom features to list. State of the art 32x32 boatdock w/party deck. Expansive big water lake views fromevery room. Multi outdoor entertaining venues. A must see!

$895,000$479,900

$1,799,000$799,000

Grass to water lake views from every room. Executive lakehome in premier North Hall n’hood. Custom built thru-out. 5BR/4.5BA Short gentle walk to dbl slip covered partydeck dock in deep water. Complete second home on terracelevel. Handicap accessible. Easy to show!

$599,000

Exclusive gated lake estate at a GREAT price! Beautifullush grounds surround this 4BR 4.5BA executive lakehome. Chefs island dream kitchen w/hdwd floors. Allnew bathrooms, sunroom plus a 3 car garage. OversizedS/S covered dock sits right outside your back door.

$499,999

Lake Lanier's finest! Quality constructed, newly renovated,brick ranch on level premier waterfront lot w/single slipdock and unending views. Many special features! Hdwdflrs; Master bath w/jacuzzi tub; additional bedroom suites(for additional bedrooms or den/office); professionallandscaping; extensive wood decks and full basement.

$989,900

Lake Lots

Last remaining lake lot with dock permit in HiddenHarbor! Gorgeous hardwoods, beautiful view and deepwater. Bring builder and build your dream lake home.

$355,000

Grass to water lake views from every room. Executivelake home in premier North Hall n’hood. Custom builtthru-out. 5BR/4.5BA Short gentle walk to dbl slip coveredparty deck dock in deep water. Complete second homeon terrace level. Handicap accessible. Easy to show!

$299,000

Brick executive home w/fully finished basement/terracelevel. 6BR/4.5BA, finished bonus, FP, vaulted ceiling,extensive wood decking, crown molding, shop area /boatdoor. Great space for separate living areas for extendedfamily. Located in well-established North Hall swim/tennislake n'hood. Possible owner financing.

Newly Renovated Lake Lanier home featuring indoor &outdoor paradise! DS dock; outdoor kitchen w/SS appl &rock FP; screened porch & Brazilian cherry wood decking.Drought proof water & level back yard to waters edge.Open floor plan w/vaulted, wood beamed ceiling.

3.5 Acres & 1100 ft of Pristine Peninsula Shorelinew/unobstructed big water views & gentle grassy walkto S/S boathouse with possible double slip upgrade.Build your dream cottage or castle. OverlooksChattahoochee Country Club. Two small homescurrently on property. 5BR/2BA.

$349,999

South Lake Gem! 4BR/3BA lake home. New S/S covdock w/elect. Custom kit w/granite, island, stainless appl.Craftsman style GR w/bead board ceiling & built-inentertainment center. Large screen porch. Fin terr lvlw/wet bar, media room, full bath, laundry, storage + 2 BR.

Classic 'on golden pond' cottage on the banks of south LakeLanier, w/awesome single slip dock in deep water facingamazing big water views! Big, open great rm w/2 sets doubledoors leading to shaded wrap around screened porch. Specialfeatures: Hdwd flrs; wood paneling; open kitchen w/breakfastbar; 2 brick fireplaces; finished terrace level.

SUSAN MOSS770-654-6661 Cell • 770-718-5217 Office

smoss@nortonnorthga.comwww.nortonsusanmoss.com

NORMAN MOOLENAAR770-539-1994 Cell • 770-718-5226 Office

nmoolenaar@nortonnorthga.comwww.nortonnormanmoolenaar.com770 536-1250

MORE EXPERIENCE, MORE KNOWLEDGE, MORE SALES

MORE POWER TO PERFORMCALL US TO BUY OR SELL A LAKE PROPERTY!

$499,000

Incredible Lake Package! Almost 2 acres, 2 lots. 2single slip covered docks with a beautiful home onDEEP, DEEP water with open views. 3BR/2BA, allhardwood floors thru-out. Beautifully appointed officeon lower level. Very open and spacious.

Big Deep Water; double slip dock. Oversized 2 cargarage; hard wood floors. Big open loft for office orextra bedroom! The best Lake Lanier week end get-away. Perfect condition. 1 acre lot can accommodatefuture build site for larger home.

$299,900

SOLD!SOLD! SOLD!SOLD!

Spectacular lake views surround this executive custom lake retreat. 139 ft of deep water shorelinewith S/S covered boat dock. Large detailed island kitchen, spacious master bedroom and bath w/adjoiningcozy den w/fireplace. Massive vaulted great room, large elegant dining area and a sunny sunroomoverlooking lake. Terrace level family room w/fireplace, two additional large bedrooms and bath alongwith a kitchenette. Every detail covered in this exquisite lake home.

ESTATE OWNED AND PRICED TO SELL! $499,999

54 LAKESIDE February 2012

WATTS

UP

DOCKS Enjoy your boat dock day and night

Over 20 years of Electrical Experience

Quality work • Excellent RatesLicensed • Insured

Owner-Dana BurkhalterFlowery Branch, Georgia

770-364-4264

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Electrica

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• Boat Dock Wiring• Shoreline Power Poles• Trouble Shooting• Boat Dock Inspections

• Complete tree service & removal • Landscape installation• Grading • Hauling • Lot clearing • Concrete removal

• Lake view enhancement (tree trimming)• Timber or allan block retaining walls • Pathway clearing & maintenance

• Timber or block pathway steps • Mulching (red, brown, cypress)• Fill dirt, topsoil, screened topsoil available

Licensed & Insured • References AvailableCall for your free estimate today • 678-414-9187

L.E. Landscaping & Tree Removal, LLC

BEFORE

AFTER

When you are the only man ina house full of women, you expe-rience many torments. I have thescars, visible and not so visible,small gifts from my teenagedaughters. And they invent newtorments every day.

This last one, I did not seecoming. Not that I have somekind of radar that would warn meof imminent misery.

It’s easier to just take ‘em likea man – or rather, like a brokendown shell of a man who justwants to be left alone as the parti-cles of his former man-self flakeaway into the great nothingnessthat is fatherhood.

In a way, it would be easy toendure any particular torment if Icould pass it off as just an acci-dent, an unintended lack of fore-sight, or a one time slip of thechallenged teenage mind. But itdoesn’t happen that way.

For instance, I like to use thetreadmill in our bonus room, andI like to watch the news while Itread. But every morning, beforethe sun rises, I am forced to getdown on my hands and knees andsearch for the missing remotecontrol. And every morning, Imake the rounds asking my

daughters where it is so I can geton with my life. And when I do,each one of them peeks out fromunderneath their cover and looksat me as if to say “What is a re-mote control.”

And each time, my blood pres-sure soars to heretofore unchartedheights as I croak out a reminder,“It turns on the television.” That’swhen they turtle back under thecovers and scream at me – “Idon’t know. Leave me alone.”

Rather than point out that theywere all in the bonus room theprevious night mesmerized by thelatest episode of “When TrashGoes Trashy,” I have found thatthe torment is mitigated some-what by just curling up in a balland sucking my thumb.

But their latest attack has leftme dumfounded. At first, Ithought that I was experiencing

early onset dementia when mysocks went missing. I could notrecall that I did anything with mysocks other than put them on andtake them off – there was no rea-son for them to be AWOL.

Waiting until my daughterswere fully conscious sentient be-ings, I asked in a non-challengingfashion, “Has anyone seen mysocks?” In response, all three ofthem jumped up, grabbed theirbags and blew out the door on theway to school. Five minutes later,the school principal called to askif there was a problem, that all ofmy kids had arrived at school ontime and did they need to see acounselor.

That led me to believe that mydaughters might have somethingto do with my socks. The thoughtpuzzled me as they had alwaysmaintained that every article ofmy clothing was GROSS. Not“gross” but GROSS. Why wouldthey raid my closet?

When I shared my thoughtswith my wife, I found her to becuriously evasive. “Why wouldthey do that?” I wondered aloudas she pretended to read thepaper. I pressed the issue, “Whatdo you think?”

“I told them they could borrowsome of your socks on occasion,”she said defensively. “They matchtheir eye liner.”

In other words, my wife sud-denly morphed into a modern dayMa Parker, riding herd on a noto-rious gang of sock thieves. “Youknow, they have all my socks,” Ipolitely pointed to my naked feet.

“Don’t be so selfish,” she said,glaring at me.

PhillipSartain

Breakfrom theLake

MORE INFO: Email:attypbs@mindspring.com

Just the latest in a string of torments from my teensSo now I don’t exercise, I

don’t watch TV, and I don’t wearsocks unless I can borrow a pairfrom my daughters. It’s just amatter of time until we have ourown trashy TV show.

Phillip Bond Sartain is aGainesville, GA lawyer and free-lance writer.

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February 2012 LAKESIDE 55

MORE INFO: www.chattahoochee.org404-352-9828

Hwy. 306 & 369 (Hammond’s Crossing) • 4295 B Browns Bridge Rd • Cumming, GA

678-807-7777 • 770-403-4899

A A Dock SupplySee Us For All Your Dock Needs!!

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New and used docks for sale. CallHendrix Dock Service, 770 889-0929.Used boat docks. Check out ournews page on our web site atwww.amaysingdocks.com or call678 450-4212.

New and used boat lifts for sale.Call AA Dock Supply, 678 807-7777.

Lake Lanier Gear, T’s, souvenirsand gifts, www.lakelaniergear.com!Lanier Gear is available at Ham-mond’s Fishing Center, Port

FOR SALE

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LAKESIDE ON LANIER CLASSIFIEDS

ONLY $15 PER MONTH!Up to 20 words, then only 25 cents per word after that!

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Royale and Habersham Marina!We do custom logo apparel too andquotes are free! Simply email usinfo@lakelaniergear.com!

Maid Service, licensed, bondedand insured. Serving all of LakeLanier. Contact: 770 713-8364 or

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dastery7709@bellsouth.net.Boat hauling services, cruisers,houseboats, and sailboats. House-boat haul-outs for service and sur-veys DOT licensed and insuredLakeside Marine Transport 770-945-2353.

• COEContinued from Page 51tions and individuals – to investtheir resources into the recre-ation areas on Lanier. We lookforward to a continued relation-ship with them and we hope tohear from more people who

want to participate in variousprograms to benefit the lake.

Contact the Corps at its Bu-ford Dam Project Managementoffice at 770-945-9531 for vol-unteer opportunities.

UCR: Safeguarding Georgia’s resourcesBy Pamela A. Keene

Upper Chattahoochee River-keeper takes all things water seri-ously. Aside from being a partnerwith the Lake Lanier Associationand other organizations in variouslegal actions to protect the lake,UCR is a strong public advocatefor the Upper Chattahoochee, of-ficially from the river’s headwa-ters in the north GeorgiaMountains through Harris Countybelow West Point Dam, an area ofabout 4,000 square miles.

The Chattahoochee beginswith a tiny spring several hundredyards below the Appalachian Trailin the southeast corner of UnionCounty. In addition to LakeLanier, parts of six counties areincluded in the Headwaters region– White, Habersham, Lumpkin,Dawson, Forsyth and Hall coun-ties. Lanier is one of 14 mainstem reservoirs on the Chatta-hoochee River – the first majorimpoundment on theApalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system, which ismanaged by the U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers.

The river flows southwesterlythrough Georgia to merge withthe Flint River in Lake Seminoleon the Florida border, where itsname changes to the Apalachicolaas it meanders through northFlorida to the Gulf of Mexico.The headwaters of the Chatta-hoochee River, which drain intoLake Lanier above Atlanta, com-prise the smallest watershed, ordrainage area, which provides amajor portion of water supply forany metropolitan area in the

country.“I simply love padding on the

river, seeing how beautiful it isand realizing, that without thisriver, much of north Georgia andmetro Atlanta would not exist asit does today,” said Sally Bethea,UCR’s founding director andriverkeeper since 1994.

In 2011, UCR continued its ac-tive environmental, education andlegislative goals; advocating forthe river in legal actions and leg-islation; analyzing hundreds ofwater samples and removing 23tons of trash from waterways; ed-ucating nearly 4,000 students andteachers in partnership withElachee Nature Science Center;restoring and/or protecting nearly16,000 linear feet of streambank;and adding more than 1,000 newmembers to bring the organiza-tion’s membership to nearly5,500.

Here, at a glance are a few ofUCR’s major projects/goals for2012:

• Expand its successful Neigh-borhood Water Watch Program tothe Gainesville-Hall area; trainingvolunteers to test local waterwaysweekly for bacteria levels thatUCR then analyzes using EPA-approved equipment.

• Bring at least 3,800 studentsand teachers onboard its floatingclassroom – the Chota Princess II– with a goal of including 800 un-derserved youth on these voyagesof discovery.

• Continue monitoring nutrientlevels in the lake during the grow-ing season to inform the state’scleanup lake plan and expedite its

implementation to begin this year.• Present its appeal of Forsyth

County’s sewage discharge permitto the Georgia Court of Appealswith hopes of securing suffi-ciently stringent pollution limitsin the state permit to safeguardthe river and those who use theChattahoochee River NationalRecreation Area.

• Update its Filling the WaterGap report released in March2011 and which focuses on waterconservation successes andmissed opportunities in metro At-lanta.

• Oppose new reservoirs thatcannot be justified, harm water-sheds without adequate compen-sation, and whose purpose isprimarily to promote new devel-opment.

• Increase the organization’smembership to 6,000, with anemphasis on diversity and peoplein the watershed who live outsideAtlanta.

The UCR was founded in 1994by Rutherford and Laura TurnerSeydel as an environmental advo-cacy organization dedicatedsolely to protecting and restoringthe Chattahoochee River Basin —drinking water source for 3.5 mil-lion people.

“We are not opposed to everyreservoir but we think they are alast option,” Bethea said. “Weshould invest in the lower-cost,quicker options – efficiency andconservation.”

MORE INFO: www.georgiawomenflyfishing.com

Georgia Women Flyfishers host fundraiserMark your calendars for

March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, atSweetwater Brewing Companyin Atlanta for the GeorgiaWomen Flyfishers annual fund-raiser. The event is scheduledfrom 7 to 10 p.m. and will fea-ture free beer and food, plus fly-fishing raffles, a silent auction

and other activities. The fund-raiser benefits the club’s Castingfor Confidence for breast cancersurvivors this fall on the Chesta-tee River. Tickets are $25 per per-son in advance or $30 at the door.

56 LAKESIDE February 2012

Multi-Million Dollar ProducerCircle of Excellence

“HERE TO SERVE YOU!”E-mail: macslitt@aol.com

770 352-4600 cell 770 271-0905 hm

www.homescenes.com

Maxine ‘Mac’ Little Best Lot on Lake Lanier! Views from Every Room!

770-495-5050

227 ft on the water w/wide open views of Lake Lanier Islands Beach, two

kitchens, great in-law or teen suite, steam shower, Jacuzzi, dumb waiter,

day kitchen in master suite, decks, patios galore, bar, pool room, AND the

sale includes two boats and a pool table. Near Lake Lanier Islands, golf

courses, restaurants, shopping, GA-400 and I-85. Homescenes ID number

4098809 � REDUCED TO $1,499,000

770 536-1250770 540-7752www.patsybailey.com

PATSY BAILEYLake Lanier…NO ONE SELLS MORE!

Pointe West Jewel

South Lake - Right on Water!8 Acres on Duncan Lake

Beautiful Big Water Views!

1335’ on Walnut River - 13.22 Acres 1.57 AcrePoint Lot w/ 675’ ofShoreline!

Beautiful view, has water now!

Call Patsy.

�� REDUCED TO $799,000

Call Patsy.

�� $980,000

Stunning CustomAll Brick Home!

Deep water,

South lake.

Call Patsy.

�� $1,799,500Call Patsy.

�� JUST REDUCED $200K

TO $599,000

Summercrest at Four Seasons

Call Patsy.

�� $420,000

Darling Rustic Cottage!

Call Patsy.

�� REDUCED TO $399,900

Call Patsy.

�� REDUCED TO

$399,900

�� REDUCED FROM $1,350,000

to $999,000 - PRICED $950,000

BELOW '07 APPRAISAL!

Magnificent Estate

�� $2,700,000

SOLD!SOLD!

Call Patsy.

�� $1,400,000

Deep Water, Grassed to Water

Call Patsy.

�� REDUCED TO$768,900

AmazingPanoramic View

Call Patsy. �� $1,795,995

Perfect Getaway

Call Patsy. �� $449,000

.71 AC, 200’ on Corps, VIEW, Deep Water Lake Lot

Call Patsy. �� $299,000

Call today for your Lake Lanier market report and free market analysis!

Private Gated 9.85 Acres w/House & Guesthouse on Shadow Lake!!!

If you want privacy, this is it! 1500 ft. on Shadow Lake in Lilburn. Main house has 3 BR, 2 full & 1 half BA. Sunroom

w/indoor heated pool. Beautiful cedar ceiling & giant fireplace in great room. Deck all around back of house w/fishing dock.

2-car garage. Guesthouse has 2 BR, 1 full BA and 3-car garage. Both houses overlooking the lake. Great compound

opportunity for large family. Good lots to build other homes. Near I-85, I-285, Atlanta, shopping, restaurants. Homescenes

Property Tour ID: 4090912. � REDUCED TO $1,279,900

SOLD!SOLD!

REDUCED! REDUCED!

SOLD!

Great Views on DEEP water!

Call Patsy.

�� $749,000

THE LAKE IS SELLING!PRICES ARE THE BEST EVER!

New Listing at Friendship Corners - $169,900 - Call Mac for details.

Under Contract! Just

Leased!