The Fall meeting of the Friends of Scull Shoals was held at the Episcopal Church Activities Building in Greensboro, with Dr. Mark Reinberger, President, presiding. Jack Wynn reported on Winter and Spring Activities, including the Passport In Time (PIT) excavations November-May, and Friends tours for the public March-May. A written report on those excavations is in preparation. The tours brought in enough money to cover the rental porta-john for volunteers and visitors at the site during the PIT activities. As before, the Friends provided T-shirts to the PIT excavation volunteers.

Plans for future restoration, trails, trail bridges, interpretive signs, and further archival, archaeological, and oral history research were discussed. New Oconee National Forest Ranger Barnie Gyant was introduced, and he promised to help assist the Friends to preserve the site. DNR Wildlife Manager Carl DelaTorre was also introduced, and he offered the use of his Redlands Game Check Station for the next Friends meeting, set for February 15th.

The election produced new officers for the Friends: Dr. Jack T. Wynn as President, Dr. Mark Reinberger as Vice-President pro-tem, and Mrs. Martha Jones as Secretary and as Treasurer pro-tem. Their terms began within that meeting. Current Board members remain: Mrs. Carolyn Reynolds Parker and Mr. Jim Hunt of Greensboro, Mrs. Ellen Whitaker of Watkinsville, and Dr. Ted Gragson, of Athens. A search is underway for additional Board members, who will be elected by the remaining Board members in subsequent meetings.


Greetings for the New Year!

Friends, we begin a new year with a new slate of officers, and ideas for many new activities. Hopefully we can provide leadership for the development of plans and activities for Scull Shoals' future. Coming soon are planning retreats and brainstorming sessions, work days and festivals, all to bring us together and focus our energies for the old village. They will draw the public's attention to the wealth of history, science, and the natural environment there. These activities can develop public support for educational and recreational experiences and facilities there for all ages.

We hope you will help with your ideas, suggestions, contributions of time and money. Bring in friends and relatives to make Scull Shoals a community of people and ideas. It can be a place where people enjoy the beautiful natural setting and learn about the world around them.

If you have been with us from the beginning, then you know we are growing slowly, but with purpose. Now we we'll grow more rapidly, while continuing to focus our energies and develop the programs and activities to benefit the people of Greene and surrounding counties, and students of all ages. Make your feelings, hopes, and concerns known, so they all get included.

If you are new to the Friends of Scull Shoals, we hope you will share your interests and ideas for the site as an educational center. Friends of Scull Shoals is a private, non-profit partner with the Oconee National Forest. We have an opportunity to help manage this important part of our American heritage. Together, we can do wonderful things.!

Please take a few moments now, sit down, and write out your ideas, dreams, expectations, and concerns for the Friends of Scull Shoals for the future. Send your thoughts and ideas by e-mail or the US Postal Service to the addresses below. They will be included in the plans. Just get them in writing, and into the "hat" for consideration to begin.

Oh, yes! Make your plans now to be present for our next meeting, February 15, at 2 pm, at the Redlands Game Check Station, on GA Hwy 15 north. Watch for the signs for the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Check Station. This will be an important session, and your ideas are needed! Bring your ideas and your smiling face February 15th!

Jack Wynn


Scull Shoals Work Day, Monday, February 5th

Oconee District Ranger Barnie Gyant has designated Monday, February 5th for the Scull Shoals Winter Work Day. We will have the assistance of eight or ten the Oconee District's Older American Workers, with OA Leader David Fowler and Archaeologist Jill Harrell. That's great news for enthusiastic volunteers of the Friends of Scull Shoals! On earlier volunteer days, we trimmed privet, clearing the view of the river and old roads, remember? What will we do this time? Plenty!

1. Backfilling . We will backfill two squares near the stone chimney base. Markers will show where the corners are without dangerous holes. The features can be interpreted on the surface.

2. Clean chimney base. Volunteers will clean out Square 4-5, with the two-fireplace chimney, and temporarily re-cover it with plastic tarps. We hope to put a plexiglass cover it for visitor inspection, but for now it will stay covered.

3. Build new fence. Friends will install a rail fence around Square 4-5. Posts need to be set, so we'll dig and screen the post holes, recovering artifacts there. Then we will build the fence around the pit.

4. Repair old fence. FS workers and Friends will replace fence rails around the warehouse. FS Rec Fee Demo funds paid for the materials. That's the money from the fee box at Scull Shoals Historic Recreation Area.

5. Remove branches. Privet and tree branches lie all over town! We'll pile those up in the old roadway and burn them. Two firewood permitees cut up downed trees, but there is still a lot left. FS employees will cut up the rest, and haul it to the Redlands Game Check station. If you would like a permit for some of this firewood, contact Jill Harrell ASAP!

6. Clear root cellar . Winter is a good time to clear vegetation in the Superintendent's root cellar with loppers, so visitors can see into it.

7. Cut privet. There is still privet growing around the village. Volunteers can resume privet-cutting, to clear the village for views of the river and surroundings.

8. Clear raceway. Friends and FS crews will clear downed tree trunks and limbs in the old raceway, passing under the arched brick bridge leading to the old powerhouse foundations.

9. Clean 2-chimney house. The area PIT volunteers excavated in 1997 is growing up in weeds. Winter is a good time to cut that back again, so visitors can see the work we did there, and the size and shape of the house.

Friends, mark your calendars, for Monday, February 5, 2001 (rain day, Tuesday, Feb 6th), and come prepared for a good time at Scull Shoals! Our past work days there have been very productive, and this should be also -- not to mention lots of fun in the process!

Wear your field clothes, dress in layers for the weather, with boots or tough shoes, and your gloves. If you have long-handled loppers, bow saws, weed eaters, or the like, put your name on them, and bring 'em along! You will need to bring water or sports drinks.

We plan to cook hot dogs and have chips and potato salad on-site, so you may eat with us, or bring your own. (A small donation toward the lunches will be appreciated!) Please let us know you are coming and how many friends you will bring with you. That way, we can get enough lunch for everyone.

For information, or to let us know you're coming, please contact Jack Wynn at 770-536-2564, or mfjtwynn@bellsouth.netor Jill Harrell at 706-485-7110, or jkharrell@fs.fed.us . See you there!


Next Meeting is February 15th!

Our next Friends Board of Directors meeting will be held Thursday, February 15th at 2 pm, at the Redlands Game Check Station. It's located 9.5 miles north of Greensboro, just north of the Fishing Creek bridge, on GA Highway 15. DNR Game manager Carl DelaTorre has invited us to meet there, as the nearest meeting place to Scull Shoals. We will have coffee, soft drinks, and munchies, so don't miss it. We will work on plans for the Strategic Planning Retreat in March, and for spring projects and tours on the site. The meeting is open to all members of the Friends. We need all your enthusiastic input! See you there!


Trail Layout Plans

Alan Stoval's 1984 Scull Shoals: A Feasibility Study indicates a need for interpretive trails around the study area. Several of these are in the immediate area of the old mill village, and would most help full for conducting Spring and Summer tours of Scull Shoals. Jill Harrell and Jack Wynn have attended trail design workshops to learn properly designed and built trails that need minimum maintenance. Mike Riter, of the Southern Off-Roads Bicycle Riders Association (SORBA), a professional trail designer and builder, will guide the project. We hope to have the first trails laid out and approved by the Forest Service soon, so on future work days, Friends crews can begin building the trails for visitors to use. Along the trails will be interpretive signs for self-guided tours.

Board Planning Retreat

As part of the long-term planning process for the Friends of Scull Shoals, the Board of Directors and others will conduct a one-day planning retreat on a weekend in March. We have a feasibility study from 1984 by Dr. Alan Stoval of the University's School of Environmental Design. That will be examined and up-dated to see what we can do in short run projects and in longer-run programs Working together to set priorities and decide on goals, service projects, and those whom we should serve, we can focus our energies, and attract the support of the wider community. We hope all the Board members will attend the retreat, and any other Friends who want to help plan our future. If you are interested, please contact Jack, Mark, or Martha, for schedule and location.


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