Friday 30 April 2010

Institutionalised - school to prison to retirement home all in one day!

Thursday 29th April

This morning we enjoyed a very welcomed light breakfast, a choice of fruit, yoghurt and Pam’s homemade granola – another great recipe that’s heading back to the UK with us.





We enjoy breakfast whilst Monkey (the dog) enjoys his sunny spot.

After yet another fond farewell our first stop was Picken’s County Middle School. We arrived to see and take part in a special assembly/event where the middle school students were showing off their skills and opportunities to prospective students from a local elementary school. We heard the choir sing, the band play, saw a video produced by the pupils and watched the cheer leaders perform. The kids seemed delighted when we were asked to ‘speak English’ and tell them a little about ourselves and why we were there. Gareth took to the stage with gusto although the team may have enjoyed the ‘performance’ a little more than the kids. Sadly, his tuneful rendition of ‘Fly me to the moon’ seemed to bemuse the school band and fell on the deaf ears of the students. He was perhaps too 'fly for a white guy'!


Bendy and energetic cheerleaders perform at the high school.

Our Rotarian guide from this point on was Chris LeMieux, the Principle of Picken’s County Middle School. He gave us brief tour and explained about the rotary-led Youthact and Interact programmes which encourage school children to set up fundraising initiatives. He then whisked us off to visit Tate Elimentary School. The Jasperians are particularly proud of this school as it is made entirely of the local marble and is one of the oldest schools in the state.





Marble school.

After a whistle-stop tour we were again on the road and due to the legendary traffic congestion found ourselves catapulted out of the truck and giving our presentation to our next host rotary club – South Gwinnett. It was lovely to see some familiar faces in the crowd as Melissa, Doug, Jeremy and Chris (the American GSE team) had turned up. Rotarian Andy Copeland was now in charge and we headed off to the Gwinnett County Sherriffs Department Direct Supervision Facility which can house up to 2744 inmates at a time. We sense this may have been a warning to the team about what sort of accommodation we might expect should we be caught taking more photos of guns in Walmart!


Restraining devices for unruly inmates on J-pod.


One highlight of this visit was to meet some of the inmates and their dogs who are part of a special rehabilitation programme. This programme means specially selected inmates are given the opportunity to learn dog training skills and care for dogs which would have been put down at the pound. These dogs arrive at the prison on the day they were to be ‘euthanised’ and are trained up by the inmates so that they may be re-homed in loving families. It seemed to be a very positive programme.

Next stop was the nearby 911 emergency call centre. This state of the art facility only opened in February and has been visited by experts from all over the world as it is at the cutting edge of technology and innovations in crisis management. The building is hurricane, tornado, ice storm and sunshine proof and the generators could keep the building powered for 14 days. That is a lot of building!

Finally we boarded the bus and within no time we were deposited at our ‘rest home’. The Garden Plaza complex is a luscious retirement home with pool, Jacuzzi, gym, pool room, internet cafe, crocket lawn and restaurant. We had a good meal then retired for the night after another exhausting but interesting day.




Andrea's final resting place, only for the weekend, mind!

Thanks to all who helped and drove us about!

Marble, cowboys and horses

Wednesday 28th April

After a hearty cowboy sleep we arose to a misty morning. Pam served up sausages and her mother’s special recipe of citrusy-gooey-slightly nutty French bread. Not sure what it was called but it was jolly nice! At 9am sharp Fred and Charlie picked us up and sped us on our way to the first engagement- shopping trip at ‘Bargain Barn’. One can purchase anything from guns to BBQ utensils, really anything a true southern American would need for a day in the woods!
Next stop was the Tate Georgian Marble Quarry where we were given hard hats and a guided tour of the open mine site. The sheer size of the place was staggering – the marble vein is said to run 2,000 ft deep and there should be enough marble to last 3,000 years (that equates to loads more tombstones)!

The girls model hard hats and marble.



Lots of machine, lots of marble.

Armed with a goodie bag filled with marble we left the quarry for lunch and gave a presentation to Jasper rotary club. The team ate up quickly because they were all looking forward to visiting Sacketts. Larry (our cowboy/lawyer/host at Ranch 74) assured us this was the place to go for the authentic cowboy attire. Andrea and Allison couldn’t resist the opportunity to try on a full cowgirl outfit (minus the gun and horse).

Daisy May and Roy Rogers work the cowboy look!

Back on the road again we drove out of town for an hour towards the starting place of the Appallacian trail. This is also the site of the spectacular Amicalola Falls – one of the biggest waterfalls in Georgia. Desperate to stretch our legs the team hiked up 426 steps to the view from the top.

View from the bottom.


View from the top.

Back at the Ranch we all got the chance to do something we put on the wish list- horse riding! Each of us enjoyed a sedate amble around the paddock sitting on authentic western saddles and were treated to Manny’s ‘trick’.



Andrea and horse.

Our fun loving guides Charlie and Frank were the eager to take us out in Jasper for Dinner. Charlie noticed how thirsty we all looked and we stopped off at a Mexican restaurant for a beer on the way...and of course a mandatory basket of spicy chicken wings. We then continued on to our dinner destination, ‘Crust’ where we devoured more massive and very tasty meals but still managed to find room for a nightcap back at the ranch.
Thanks to Charlie and Frank for taking good care of us.

By Allison

74 Ranch - Jasper County

Tuesday 27th April


For breakfast we were treated Pancakes, a half dozen different kinds of syrup as well as some tasty sausages in true American style thanks to District Governor and chef Shane.

The rest of the morning was spent relaxing around the house. Some of the team went for a run around the beautiful housing development, others played 8 ball pool and the team also took some time to refine their presentation prior to today’s afternoon engagement with the Rotary Club of Canton.





We travelled with Shane down to the conference centre for our lunch and presentation, this club would be classed as one of their medium sized clubs with around 50 members and it appeared that most had turned out in eager anticipation to hear what we had.



We conducted our presentation in our usual professional manner and afterwards to our surprise we were given each a gift bag containing a whole host of trinkets which had been put together very kindly for us by the Canton Rotary club. In fact with everyone’s generosity out here we may exceed our luggage limits, although we could use this as an excuse for not buying all our friends and family gifts!

From the Canton Rotary club we were driven up into the hills to a town called Jasper, which we were all quite excited about as we heard we were to stay at a working ranch called 74 Ranch.


On our arrival we were greeted at the gate by one of the owners Pam, who caught our eyes straight away as she strolled across her property in full cow girl attire, at that point we all knew we were in for an authentic time.





The lodgings that we were staying in had been lovingly restored to their original pre-civil war beauty by Pam and her husband Larry.

We were given a tour of the property, Steve, Gareth and Roy were to sleep in a well equipped ‘Bunk House’, which had its own wood fire, wash and shower facilities and if any of us were feeling up to it, a honeymoon suite!

The girls we in the main house in a tastefully decorated twin room, in fact all the rooms in the house were decorated and furnished lovingly and sympathetically to the surroundings. The rest of the house itself sits surrounded by paddocks and stables, in which we watched their horses grazing and other usual ‘horse type things’.

We got ourselves settled, made friends with the several dogs which call the ranch home then later on were taken for a meal to the Wood Bridge Inn, located just by.....a wooden bridge.

A good meal was had by all, in fact some of us tried oysters for the first time, Gareth including. However unbeknown to him at this point he’d just ingested a food which was to rendering him ‘incapacitated’ later on that evening, you can use your imagination!

The rest of team ended their evening with Larry and his guitar, in front of the wood burning fire - singing a few cowboy songs and learning some more about the confederate war history.



Wednesday 28 April 2010

Canton - Evening with the District Governor


Monday 26th April


Sadly it was time to leave the lake house and we all gathered our belongings together, had a light breakfast, cleaned up the house and set off for a look at what Canton had to offer.

Our first stop was at the Funk Heritage Museum which was dedicated to the Native American Indians and we heard all about the 'The Trail of Tears' in which they were driven from their homeland by the US Federal Government between the years of 1831 - 1838.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears





We then got the chance to relax at the YMCA health club where we had free run of the gym, and swimming pool before lunch which was spent in a Mexican restaurant. For the first time we had normal size meals and we didn't have to undo the buttons on our trousers before leaving our seats.


We then visited a place called The Boys and Girls Club. This was an excellent facility in which Anton Zellmann, one of our Rotarian Hosts is on the board of directors. The Club offers a supervised environment that children can visit after school and can stay right up till 8pm. It is semi structed in that the first hour must be spent doing homework and then there are optional sessions such as finance management, life skills and assisted college application workshops followed by free social time when they can make use of th many recreational facilities encompasing sport, music and art.
The Club is open to any chilren at an extremely low cost so can be utilised by families with low income.

Their Promise is -

To provide a quality developmental program that empowers metro Atlanta youth, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to become productive adults.

Check out their website at - http://www.bgcma.org/


Outside the club with Anton Zellmann and Kristine Pruss

As we were a little ahead of schedule for the day we took the opportunity to visit the local Walmart store to stock up on some cheap goodies.



Really all that we wanted to do was see a supermaket that sells guns. In the process Andrea got chastised for taking a picture of all the rifles on the wall and was sternly told to erase it immediately.


Andrea's 'Erased' picture of Rifles in Walmart


We were hosted that evening by the Rotary 6910 District Governor Shane Burr and his family and were treated to a fantastic Itallian supper. Italy has a special place in the heart for the Burr family as it's where Shane met his wife Donna and the rest is history.

Monday 26 April 2010

A much needed rest

Sunday 25th April


The team made the most of their first opportunity to have a lie in and rose to a beautiful day, the air had cleared following the storms and the sun was glistening on lake arrowhead.




We enjoyed a little time relaxing around the house until our brunch hosts came to pick us up. Shane Burr is the district governor of 6910 and he arrived with his wife Donna and his mother, a spritely lady who had no problems with the steep hills and jumping in and out of the monster cars that everyone seems to drive.


We arrived at our brunch destination, Canton Golf Club, which was set at the top of a steep hill with yet more great views of the lush greenery surrounding us and an interior not dissimilar to that of a scene from Dallas.






We were met their by more rotary friends, old and new. Brunch was a great spread with the traditional grits and a novel omelette building bar!



Anton Zellmann from the Canton Rotary Club first in line for an Omlette


After declining some very kind offers of things to do, the team opted to spend the remainder of their rest day chilling out by the lake which subsequently meant sunbathing, reading, swimming and fishing, with both Andrea and Steve reeling in some prize fish whilst soaking up the beautiful Georgia sunshine.





















All the fish we caught were returned safely to the Lake to fight another day.

We had a brief visit from the very generous owner of the lakehouse Mark Shultz, who kindly allowed us to stay and enjoy the serenity of the lovely lakeside location for the weekend.

After we had basked all we could bask and the sun was disapearing behind the mountains Edna arrived with Sue who had prepared our evening meal of shrimps and vegetable casserole.

We all enjoyed the delicious banquet and the chance to reflect a little more about our trip so far, all agreeing that we could happily stay in this location for much longer....but we have many more places to go, people to meet and presentations to give, so we gotta keep moving!



Andrea Wilson

Habitat for Humanity

Saturday 24th April


It was an early rise once again for the team this morning as they set off at 7am to partake in a community service project called “Habitat for Humanity” which is a charity that builds homes for deserving families in the community, giving them a chance to own their own home for the first time.

Everyone was feeling a little weary as we hadn’t had much sleep for a couple of reasons. Firstly the owners of the lake house had kindly provided us with ample beverage which was to be enjoyed well into the wee small hours and secondly a Tornado that had been raging through Mississippi was heading in our direction and heavy rainfall, winds, thunder and lightning was keeping us awake.

The rain was still falling hard in the morning and there was thought of cancelling the day’s activities. However the British stiff upper lip approach was adopted and we headed off to do our duty.

After around 45 min’s of driving through the rain we arrived at the building project.



Ever since we got here, the kindness and hospitality we have received has been truly humbling and today was our opportunity to give a little back, so after a hearty breakfast of doughnuts, bagel’s, coffee in a box and prayers, we signed legal waivers as is the tradition in these parts and got stuck in to the job in hand which was to paint the whole interior of the house in a single day! Time passed really quickly and the team kept everyone in good spirits by singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody and How Deep is Your Love.







Lunch came in the form of Kosher wieners and crisps served next to the chemical toilet for the ultimate in convenience as the rain subsided for the duration of our break. This enabled us a chance to speak to and pose for photos with the Berry/Pruitt family who were to receive the house from the ‘Habitat for Humanity’ project.



The evening was spent at Edna’s house where we were treated to a ‘Low country boil’ which consisted of Shrimps, Potatoes, Sausage, Corn and Onion all boiled together in the same pot. Delicious! Edna is a Rotarian who lives on a small family farm which has goats, lamas, cows and miniature horses. We all had a fantastic evening and one of the highlights was Edna’s home cooked chocolate fudge brownies to which Allison referred as the best she had ever tasted. It was also a benefit to have wifi access to update the blog which we hadn’t had for a few days.



Back at the Lake house the team relaxed on the boardwalk with fine beverage in the form of Roy’s Californian Shiraz (Roy had gone to bed by this time) and discussed some of the differences between the two cultures that we had encountered. Some of our observations are as follows and are by no means meant to be disrespectful, we’re just taking a little time to adjust.

Being asked for ID whilst buying alcohol was a bit of a novelty at first but is somewhat annoying after a while .More so when you have grey hair and are clearly old enough to be the parent or grandparent (Roy) of the person serving you it’s ludicrous.

‘No ID, no beer’ is the phrase, but its more like ‘no IDea’ as little discretion appears to be used.

Now contrast that with the states gun laws where you can conceale a loaded semi-automatic pistol whilst you pick up your kids from school or carry a ‘six shooter’ into church with you and your brain begins to melt with the apparent absurdity of it all.

Now of course that’s the British perspective, however down here, carrying a gun to them is about as natural as putting milk and sugar into hot tea is for us. (They always cringe when we tell them we do that).

One of the great things about the southern twang is the way they simplify certain words or sayings, why use two words when one will do, e.g. y’all = you all. Even more efficiently three words into one e.g. dyeet = did you eat. Crucially, all the above needs to be spoken in more of a John Wayne rather than Hugh Grant style accent or it just doesn’t work.

Another new phenomenon that the team has discovered in our short time down here is that rather than relatives and in laws just hinting to a newlywed couple that they might want to consider having children, instead they pack them off on what is known as a ‘Procreation Vacation’ also known as ‘Babymooning’.

Our conversation continued once again into the wee small hours but this time the team could relax safe in the knowledge that they were being treated to a rest day and did not have to get up early in the morning.

Sunday 25 April 2010

Wish List

Wish List


Some of you very kind Rotarians have said you would like to know what we would like to do. After some discussion here is a ‘wish list’ we have compiled. Some things you may be able to help us with, some things may be a little more tricky! Please do not think we expect to do all of this!

• Meet some cowboys!

• Enjoy some live music, in a local bar perhaps?

• Visit a gun shop, hold some guns and maybe even do some shooting! We hear Franklin’s in Athens is good.

• Steve would like to have a test ride on a Harley Davidson.

• Get pulled over by a Sherriff, with a big gun!

• Visit the highest point in Georgia (be that building or mountain). We hear sunset and sunrise is a good time to do this sort of thing in Georgia. Rock City Gardens is a good place so we hear?

• Get a ‘honk’ from a trucker!

• White water rafting.

• Mountain biking.

• Visit a basketball game.

• Do some shopping in local shops/main streets and visit a Mall and a Walmart.

• Sit on a porch on a rocking chair singing the blues.

• Visit Tallulah Falls or Amicalola Falls.

• Hike some of the Appalachian Trail.

• Go on a scenic train ride.

• Kick boxing (Ali – you said this may be possible?)

• Visit a spa (the watery kind not local shop kind)

• Gareth would like to visit and sit in a big RV.

• Get a take-out pizza and visit a drive in movie theatre. We hear there is a good one in Tiger and Blue Ridge.

• Eat some of the following – fried okra, venison, corn bread, home cooked grits, Waffle House, Taco Bell, good Mexican food, Tacco Mac (?), eat some good home cooked food.

• Walk on the moon!

Lake Arrowhead

Friday 23rd April


After home cooked breakfasts with our host families we all loaded our suitcases back into the van and headed off for a very detailed tour of the Rome History Museum. As well as telling the story of the founding and history of Rome there was also a display of past presidents of Rome Rotary Club, one of the first clubs established in the state.

Following the historical visit we were taken to Berry College campus. This is the largest college campus in the world, set amongst beautiful woodlands, rolling hills (which Steve had the pleasure of hurtling up and down on a mountain bike on Thursday evening) and lush green pastures. Many of the buildings were built by past students and a founding principle of the college is to not only provide an excellent education but also an environment where they can earn money to help pay for the tuition fees and learn business management and entrepreneurial skills.





Lunch was at a lovely local place in Rome called The Harvest Moon Cafe. Yet again, enormous portions but very tasty. After lunch it was time to leave Rome and wave goodbye to our new found friends and head off to Canton for the next leg of our journey.



We were met at the pearly gates of Lake Arrowhead ‘gated community’ by Peter Gleichman and wound our way along twisting paths and through tall forests which occasionally allowed us glimpses of a sparkling lake. Finally we reached our destination and to our amazement found ourselves staying for the next 3 nights in a 4 tiered lakeside property complete with 3 balconies revealing stunning views and a jetty where we proceeded to bask in the sun and dive into the crystal clear waters. It really was hell, but someone has to do it!






















After a few heavenly hours we enjoyed a delicious BBQ (English style) cooked expertly by Peter and the odd tipple! What a great way to round off a busy week.