Local leaders are reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta and the efforts it took to get some of those games to Gainesville and Hall County.
Steve Gilliam, a Gainesville attorney, worked with Jim Mathis as part of the Gainesville Hall 96 Roundtable. "We were approached by Jack Pyburn, a local rower, and he thought the Lake Lanier venue out at Clarks Bridge would be a great place to have a rowing venue - at the time we didn't know about canoe/kayak flat water sprint races," he said.
Both Mary Hart Wilheit and Gilliam said it essentially took a village to bring the games to the city, however, the community response was electric. "It's a golden opportunity ," Wilheit said. "We'll never have that opportunity again. The amazing part of it - since we were granted this opportunity - that everybody you talked to realized that."
Wilheit, a local artist, among other things, was a vice-chair along with Gilliam on the Gainesville Hall 96 Roundtable.
"An Olympic event can't just say, 'Ok, we're going to plop down in the middle of Gainesville and we'll just do what we want.' The community, the city and county officials, the police and fire folks, all of those people - the Corps of Engineers, particularly - had to be on board, because it can't just happen without the work of all of the community people.
"And then, the volunteer side of it all... can't just happen. They (the Olympic organizations) don't know anybody in our area, they can't bring these people together. So it was up to people who live here, to help pull it together. And luckily, everybody wanted to do it! It was wonderful."
The Olympic Venue on Clarks Bridge still stands and has been used for Olympic pre-trails in recent years. The Lake Lanier Rowing Club and Lake Lanier Canoe/Kayak Club were both formed following the Olympics to make use of the venue, said Gilliam.
The Lake Lanier Olympic Venue is also the only Olympic venue still being used for its intended purpose.
"The impact of course is great as far as rowing and canoe and kayak events. The site is just unprecedented, there's none as good," Wilheit said. "But I think particularly, for the people who worked on it - and of course, we're all 20 years older - it's a very warm and fuzzy feeling. We were able to work hard, do whatever is asked of us, and make it happen.
"And we were received well all throughout the Olympic committee... ACOG was very complimentary of our site and the ones who are still involved still compliment us on our site."
"It was worth every drop of sweat - cause it sure was hot here - and all of the hours and years it took to pull it together," Wilheit said when asked if she'd do it again. "So yes, I'd do it again."
"It brings a smile to my face every time I think of all the people that got together and became a part of the summer of 1996," said Gilliam. "I was proud of everybody."
