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  Meeting August 18th at Wrayswood Our next quarterly meeting is on Saturday, August 18th , beginning at 10:00 a.m. sharp! Mrs. Alice Curtis and her sister Mrs. Maxine Singleton, both very active Friends, will host us at the Curtis family complex at Wrayswood Plantation. We will hold elections in November, and form an election committee in August. We will have reports on plans for Fall activities and discuss expansion efforts. A light lunch will follow the meeting, courtesy of Maxine and Alice. The Curtis family is planning a 19th century living history exhibit at Wrayswood that will work well with the plans we have for Scull Shoals. The two have always been closely connected, through both family and economic ties. The mills at Scull Shoals processed the cotton grown on the Wrayswood Plantation through most of the century, and the Wrays were part owners of the various companies operating at Scull Shoals. Directions: From GA Hwy
15, north side of the Oconee River Bridge, take graveled Ward Road leading
past the Curtis Sand Pit, to paved C.M. Copeland Road. Go left on Copeland
Road a mile to Wrayswood Road. Turn left into graveled Wrayswood Road,
and go 2 miles past the old plantation house to the Curtis home. It's
at the end of the road, and marked by Bear Lake signs. After several changes,
the new Friends of Scull Shoals flyer is now available. The light tan
folder, (8 1/2 x 14") was passed out to tour visitors and Friends at the
site in May, and copies were also placed with the Chamber of Commerce
office in Greensboro. Still really in draft form, and photocopied, this
was a combination of the historic information in the Forest Service's
"blue folder" and current information about the Passport In Time projects
and the Friends of Scull Shoals activities. The intent is to give the
visiting public an idea of what has happened here in the past, and what
is going on right now. It also includes an application blank, so folks
can sign up right away. We hope to have the final version printed in quantities
to be widely available. If you have not seen a copy of the new flyer,
please let us know. We'll have some at the August 18th meeting. Friends Secretary Martha Jones reports that we have had 22 new members apply since our last report in the April newsletter. We welcome all of them, and look forward to their enthusiastic support and cooperation. Some are already active! We look forward to meeting them all at Wrayswood on August 18th. The new members are: Charley Blair, Watkinsville, GA Joseph, Libby, Charles, Curtis, Beth, and Haywood Crumbley, Wrayswood Farm, Watkinsville, GA Alvin Dickens, Union Point, GA Lily and Casey Hymas, Watkinsville, GA InHeritage, Dave Buckhout and Kerri McIntire, Clarkston, GA Judge LaVerne Ogletree, Greensboro, GA Ronnie and Lucy, Brent and Brett Ogletree, Watkinsville, GA Maxine and William Singleton, Watkinsville, GA John and Cynthia Smith, Greensboro, GA Sammie and Charlene Stooksbury, Blue Ridge, GA Mrs. Alice Curtis is a new
Board member and Membership Committee Chair. She has already brought in
many of the extended Curtis family with her. Welcome Alice and all the
Curtises! Scull Shoals exhibit at
Greensboro's community festival, the Southland Jubilee, was a big hit,
with participants Cheryl Keen and Jill Harrell in old-fashioned hoop skirts,
greeting the visitors. This year they were inside, out of the wind, and
adjacent to the Woman's Club historical exhibits. They met lots of new
faces, and many with family members who had lived in the industrial town
in the 19th century. This is always a good chance for us to gain new members,
but also to let the community know of the Friends organization and our
hopes for an educational center at the old town. We will need to set up a Fall Volunteer Work Day to prepare the site for the fall tours, PIT activities, and such. Since the schedule was not set when this newsletter went to press, the date will be announced at the August 18th Friends meeting. If you have preferences for a particular weekday or weekend, please contact Jill Harrell (706-485-7110, ext 111) or Jack Wynn at 770-536-2564. We hope to see a big crowd
for the Fall Work Day, clearing privet and cleaning up the site! At the August meeting,
we will announce fall activity schedules. At present we plan for at least
two Passport In Time excavation projects, one each on weekends in October
and November. We also plan to provide the guided tours on the Saturdays
of those weekends. If you have ideas for additional activities, or know
of groups who may want to come for the tours, please let us know as soon
as you can, so we can schedule those activities or groups. Contact Jack
at 770-536-2564 or by e-mail at mfjtwynn@bellsouth.net. Our spring meeting of the Friends of Scull Shoals was held as a covered dish luncheon at Scull Shoals mill village on Saturday, May 12. The PIT volunteers were working at the site, and tours at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm brought in many visitors. All but one of the Board members were present, as were members and visitors. Treasurer Gale Farlow reported on the necessary changes to the By-Laws required by the IRS to correct our non-profit 501.c.3 status. The Board voted on the changes, and Secretary Martha Jones and President Jack Wynn signed off on them, so the revised By-Laws changes could be sent directly to the IRS. The Board also voted funding to support our Friends website for the internet. InHeritage, of Clarkston is constructing it for us as a pro bono project. This company, headed by Dave Buckhout and Kerri McIntire has done a website for Greene County, and is also currently working on one for the White House in Washington. While the construction and layout of the website is at no cost to us, the one-time registration ($60-70) and monthly maintenance, about $240 a year, are costs we must bear. It is expected that the website will be up and running this summer. Jill Harrell reported that plans for the new trails and toilet building are going through environmental review. Once that is completed, we may begin construction on them. Oconee District Ranger Barnie Gyant thanked the group and all the volunteers for their time and efforts. Besides helping the forest and the visitors, these efforts help to make him look good at rating time! Friends have bought T-shirts for the PIT volunteers in the past, but this year, Forest Service Volunteer Coordinator Luana Kitchens provided the shirts. Jill reported that she had twenty volunteers working on the site this time, so that the usual national advertisement for volunteers was not necessary for the PIT project. We have had good publicity from both the newspapers and radio in the area. We have both amateur and professional volunteers, so that the pros can help supervise the amateurs, and everyone has a good experience, while contributing to the archaeological research. Jim Hunt reported that the planning committee is making contacts with the Georgia pacific Company about land adjacent to the forest for the Friends educational center. Those discussions are still pending. Jill reported on her talks with Patty Lescoe of the Ritz-Carlton about tours of the site. This brought up a need for a cadre of tour guides and docents. Jack is writing a handbook for tour guides, and plans training sessions for the docent/tour guides. The following new committees were announced: Planning: Jim Hunt, Chair, with Ellen Whitaker, Maxine Singleton, and Mark Reinberger Membership: Alice Curtis, Chair. She has brought in family and several donations already. Finance: Gale Farlow, Chair, with Cassandra Flowers and Alice Curtis Public Relations, chair vacant yet Projects: chair vacant yet. Long-term financing, endowment, PIT projects, and a small booklet on
Scull Shoals history, to be printed locally, for sale The Association has invited Dr. Jack Wynn to serve on its Board, and he will be a liaison between our two organizations. There is more information on the Association with this newsletter, so if you want to know more, or to join the Association, it's here for you. They may well be able to provide assistance to the Friends, since they have a full-time Executive Director, Parks Miller, whose job is to build membership and seek funding for various Association projects. The Association covered the additional cost of mailing this newsletter and their material. This newsletter is a publication of the non-profit Friends of Scull Shoals, Inc. Jack T. Wynn, Editor For information on the
Friends, this Newsletter or planned activities, please contact me by phone
at 770-536-2564, or by e-mail at mfjtwynn@bellsouth.net. If you have internet
access, please send me your e-mail address. We can save lots of money
by sending the newsletters by e-mail! Needed: a small, dedicated cadre of prepared, energetic, enthusiastic tour guides for Scull Shoals! Local people with interest in the history of the community, and abilities to talk easily to strangers are requisites. The more interest we generate in the place, the more tours we can offer, but we need good local folks to guide the visitors around the site. All of these will require tour guides, so we don't want to over-extend the few we have. Do you know someone like this? A Tour Guide Training
Class will begin shortly, using a written handbook. So, if you would like
the fun of introducing new people to the history and the mysteries of
Scull Shoals, or you know someone who does, please contact Ellen Whitaker
(ellen@terry.uga.edu), or Alice Curtis at (embry15@earthlink.com). Remember,
as the guide, you will know more about the site than the folks on your
tour, so don't let what you don't know yet bother you. Uncle Jack wants
You! The Friends are making
great plans for activities at the old mill village, and they all take
people and money. We are developing trails and interpretive signs as a
first step, and plans are in the works for bathroom facilities!
If you have not yet joined our non-profit organization, or if you have
a buddy you think would enjoy learning and working with us, we hope you
will bring them into the Friends of Scull Shoals. Any and all donations
are cheerfully accepted! New and old members, please fill in the form,
and send it in with your generous check. Thanks! |
