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  Community Reunion Festival Was Wet The First Annual Scull Shoals Community Reunion Festival was held on Saturday, October 11, 2003, under the tarps, and despite the occasional drizzle. At least 68 people attended, and enjoyed the exhibits, craft demonstrations and the great food! Board Member Cindy, with Tom and Christina Bowden, demonstrated the process of papermaking, celebrating Georgia's first paper mill at Scull Shoals in 1809-1815. Visitors got to make paper themselves! Board Co-President Maxine Singleton exhibited her collection of antiques and artifacts, and supplied honey hams for lunch, while her daughter Toni Dunn demonstrated her handicrafts, and James Smith came to play guitar for us. Other crafters demonstrating included Blacksmith Louis Salmon and Woodcarver John Mayer, who's also our new Forest Archaeologist. Louis donated an authentic Scull Shoals poker he made that we can raffle! Mitzi Campbell demonstrated the fine art of chair caning, and Al Vegotsky demonstrated early patent medicine bottles and discussed their contents and uses. Kareen Davis exhibited examples of quilting from the Greensboro Arts Alliance, and Phil Bainbridge demonstrated once again that he still cooks a mighty fine hamburger! While all this was going on, Bob and Deb Skarda and Ed Goff lead enthusiastic visitors on guided walking tours of the old mill village, drizzle or not! Ranger Bill Nightingale and District Fire Team member Brooke Nordan brought in tables and chairs for the covered-dish luncheon, and stayed to join us. Bill handed out Certificates of Appreciation to the Passport In Time volunteers, and Jack Wynn had recognitions from the Friends organization, too. Year 2003 Accomplishments Here are some things the Friends of Scull Shoals have done this year, in no particular order. If something's missing, please let us know! 1. Passport In Time archaeologists worked January-May, one weekend a month, donating more than 728 hours to the CRM program of the National Forests in Georgia. 2. Friends volunteers donated an additional 974 hours, totaling over 1,702 hours for the year. 3. PIT volunteers included archaeology professionals JoLee Gardner, and Tom Gresham. 4. Bob and Deb Skarda and Ed Goff conducted tours of the village March-May, and October, despite the high-water floods in the Spring. 5. Jerry Pless and Hillis Bennett, former FS land surveyors, surveyed 14.2 acres at Macedonia Rd and FR 1234 planned for the Scull Shoals Educational Center at a great cost reduction. 6. We closed the deal on the new Historic Scull Shoals Educational Center lands on May 21, 2003 with Plum Creek LLC, and began plans for its long-term uses. Purchase price was about half the "going rate" for timber land in the county. 7. Mrs. Martha Gamble Johns donated the ca. 1810 Smith Academy to Friends for our educa-tional center. Mitchell Crump, Dick Stone, Jack Wynn, Mark Reinberger, and a contractor have consulted on moving the building. 8. Mark Reinberger brought 35 of his UGA Landscape Architecture students in October to cut a lot of privet from the downtown area! 9. When a large tree fell on the corner of the Scull Shoals warehouse-store building, William and Maxine Singleton and their crews cut the tree from the walls. FS crews then removed the limbs from the village center.2003 Accomplishments, continued! 10. Our booth at the Greensboro Jubilee on April 12, sold Bob Skarda's Old Oconee Pins and passed out Scull Shoals literature. 11. Peggy Sommer drove the bus loaned to us by Watkinsville First Methodist Church. We had bus rides and guided tours of Scull Shoals during the Jubilee. 12. We delivered the museum exhibit on Scull Shoals to the Greene County Historical Society Museum on April 12th, after the Jubilee. 13. Volunteers built a new South Loop Trail during the winter, then after all the spring rains, had to clear it all again! It leads to three more house places and other interpretive sites. 14. The Colonial Dames of the XVII Century raffled a beautiful hand-made quilt and provided for a new picnic table at Scull Shoals. 15. PIT archaeology volunteers determined that "Ellen's barn" site was built in the 20th century, as it had no 19th century artifacts. We did find five wooden digging sticks, called dibbles, there. They were possibly used for transplanting crops. 16. We installed a 4' x 8' sign on Macedonia Road proclaiming the "Future Home of the Historic Scull Shoals Educational Center," with donations from Jimmy Alexander. Phil Bain-bridge, Sammy Stooksbury, Peggy Sommer, and Jack Wynn did the installation. 17. The First Annual Community Reunion Festival was Oct 11, and had 68 people turn out, despite an off-and on drizzle all day. (See p. 1) 18. We have Scull Shoals T-shirts for sale as a fund-raiser, and began by selling them at the Festival and at the Society for Georgia Archae-ology meetings in Carrollton the next weekend. 19. We sent off outgoing Forest Archaeologist Jill Harrell with a farewell luncheon in February. Still More 2003 Accomplishments! 20. The Board met new Forest Supervisor, Ms. Kathleen Atkinson in Gainesville, to tell her about our organization, mission, and accomplishments. 21. We welcomed new Oconee District Ranger Bill Nightingale to Georgia in March, and he came to work on the new South Loop Trail. 22. We welcomed new Forest Archaeologist John Mayer to Scull Shoals, and he demonstrated wood duck carving at the October Festival. 23. Articles on Scull Shoals activities appeared regularly in local newspapers in Greene, Morgan, Putnam, Oglethorpe, Oconee, Clarke, in the Lake Oconee area papers, and on local radio. 24. Three generations of PIT volunteers worked in a single square: Peggy Sommer, her son Henry, and her Granddaughter Melissa. 25. We set up numbered wooden posts as markers for self-guided tours of the village. 26. PIT volunteers shovel tested the proposed route of a wheelchair trail around the downtown. Prior to shovel testing, Dick Brunelle checked the route with a metal detector. 27. Self-guided tour brochures are now in a box mounted behind the visitor info. kiosk. 28. We hosted Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops from the area for guided tours of the town. 29. We contribute to the Rec-Fee Demo program of the Oconee NF regularly for the visitor cars taking our guided tours. 30. We added two new Directors on our Board: Cindy Bowden, one of our original founders who has returned to us, and Ed Goff, a faithful tour guide, supporter, and trail builder for years. This newsletter is published by and for the non-profit Friends of Scull Shoals, Inc., P.O. Box 295, Greensboro, GA 30642. 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