More than 300 paddlers will arrive in the Dublin area June 23-24 after spending the week participating in Paddle Georgia, a 106-mile canoe/kayak adventure on the Oconee River from Athens to Dublin.
The experience culminates with the River’s End Celebration on June 24 at Buckeye Park in East Dublin. The celebration on the banks of the Oconee River will feature a fish fry, live music, an awards ceremony, the Paddle Georgia 2011 slide show and the famous Redneck Games.
Tickets are $20 per person and all proceeds benefit the Oconee River Project of Altamaha Riverkeeper. Tickets now are available for purchase on the Paddle Georgia website, www.garivers.org/paddle_georgia/riversendfeast.html. Tickets also will be available soon for purchase in person at locations in Dublin.
The celebration starts at 1 p.m. Friday, June 24 as the first of the paddlers finish the day’s river trip. Dinner is served at 6 p.m., and the Paddle Georgia awards ceremony, slide show and live music start at 7:30.
“We hope that Dublin area residents will come out to the celebration and help our paddlers end their journey on a high note,” Paddle Georgia coordinator Joe Cook said. “This is a crowd that will enjoy the Redneck Games, and I expect stiff competition in all the events at the celebration.”
Ben Emanuel, Oconee River project director for the Altamaha Riverkeeper organization, said, “It’s exciting to be coming into the Dublin area on Paddle Georgia. In a place where the river is the lifeblood of the community, this will be a great way to celebrate the Oconee and to raise support for its protection into the future.”
“Paddle Georgia is a great experience not just for all the time we spend on the river, but also for all the time we spend in communities alongside the river,” said April Ingle, executive director of Georgia River Network. “We hope Dublin area residents will join us at the River’s End Celebration and give the paddlers a warm reception as they finish the trip.”
Paddle Georgia 2011, organized by Georgia River Network, takes place June 18-24. An annual educational adventure and fundraiser for GRN, a statewide river advocacy group, Paddle Georgia is in its seventh year. In the event’s first six years, the trips have generated more than $85,000 for river protection in Georgia.
For more information, call Joe Cook at 706-409-0128, e-mail joecookpg@gmail.com or go to www.garivers.org and click on Paddle Georgia.