LAKE LANIER – Nineteen fourth graders set sail Tuesday morning to learn firsthand about Hall County’s greatest aquatic resource: Lake Sydney Lanier.
Virginia Barber’s class from Myers Elementary School stood at the top of the walkway leading down to the brand new two-slip boathouse at River Forks Park as the youngsters waited patiently (kind of) for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to be completed.
Down the walkway, tied up next to the boathouse, was the catamaran/pontoon boat Chota Princess II, idling its twin 225-hp outboard engines, ready to serve once again as a floating classroom.
The ribbon was cut and the Lake Lanier Aquatic Learning Center’s new home was open.
Life vests were inspected as the excited students took seats on the spacious open deck of the Chota Princess II under the command of Captain Mike Tracy. Safety rules were explained and instructors began to brief the young entourage about what experiments they would be conducting. No one complained.
The Lake Lanier Aquatic Learning Center is the combined efforts of Hall County Parks and Leisure Services, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and the Elachee Nature Science Center.
“We are very excited to have moved into the new home of the Lake Lanier Aquatic Learning Center,” said Jason Ulseth, Riverkeeper for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, earlier in the week. “River Forks Park is the perfect place to host this wonderful program and thanks to the recent construction of the new boathouse, we have everything we need to host over 5,000 kids each year.”
For the past 15 years LLALC has operated out of Aqualand Marina, but in March of this year River Forks Park officially became the new home for the 18-year old program and fund raising and construction began on the new boathouse.
“The Lake Lanier Aquatic Studies Program has been a successful collaboration between Elachee Nature Science Center and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper for 18 years and has hosted more than 50,000 students during that time,” said Andrea Timpone, CEO/President at Elachee.
“As you can imagine collaborations can be kind of tough but this one for twenty years has not been tough. Twenty years ago…the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper came and said we’d like to start an education program on Lake Lanier,” Timpone continued. “(They) said they’d provide the boat if y’all provide the teaching…and this year we are pleased to add Hall County Parks and Leisure Services.”
To learn more about the Lake Lanier Aquatic Learning Center at River Forks Park, visit Riverkeeper’s web site, www.chattahoochee.org. To schedule a LLALC program, contact Elachee at 770-535-1976, or visit www.elachee.org/school-programs or email [email protected].
