River Celebration Planned for June 24th in East Dublin, GA

More than 300 paddlers will arrive in the Dublin area June 23rd and 24th after spending the week on Paddle Georgia, a 106-mile canoe/ kayak adventure on the Oconee River from Athens to Dublin.

All area residents are invited to share in the Paddle Georgia experience at the River’s End Celebration June 24th at Buckeye Park in East Dublin, GA. 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 a taste of the famous Redneck Games.

Tickets are $20 per person, and this event is a fundraiser for the Oconee River Project of Altamaha Riverkeeper. Tickets are now available for purchase on the Paddle Georgia website at: www.garivers.org/paddle_georgia/riversendfeast.html. Tickets will also be available for purchase in person at locations in Dublin soon.

The celebration is set to start at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 24th as the first of the paddlers finish the day's river trip. Dinner is served at 6 p.m., and at 7:30 p.m. will begin the Paddle Georgia awards ceremony, slide show, live music and more.

“We hope that Dublin area residents will come out to the celebration and help our paddlers end their journey on a high note,” said Joe Cook, Paddle Georgia coordinator. “This is a crowd that will enjoy the Redneck Games, and I expect stiff competition in all the events at the celebration.”
 
“It’s exciting to be coming into the Dublin area on Paddle Georgia,” said Ben Emanuel, Oconee River Project Director for the Altamaha Riverkeeper organization. “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 (GRN), 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.
 
Sponsors of Paddle Georgia include Georgia Power, Hennessy Land Rover, Mohawk Carpet, Patagonia, Kettle Chips, REM, Oglethorpe Power, Coca-Cola Enterprises, China Clay Producers Association, The Outside World, The Rain Barrel Depot, Patagonia, REI, Stream Techs, Café Campesino, Masada Leather & Outdoor, Burt’s Bees, Current Designs, Wenonah Canoe, Bending Branches, the Athens Downtown Development Authority, Athens-Clarke Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Broad River Outpost, Big Dog’s on the River, DePalma's Italian Café, Menasha Ridge Press and Bee Natural.
 
Georgia River Network is a non-profit 501c3 organization working to ensure a clean water legacy by engaging and empowering Georgians to protect and restore our rivers from the mountains to the coast.
 
The Altamaha Riverkeeper (ARK) is a non-profit 501c3 organization working to protect and restore the habitat, water quality, and flow of the mighty Altamaha from its headwaters in the Oconee, Ocmulgee and Ohoopee to its terminus at the Atlantic Coast. ARK’s Oconee River Project is an effort dedicated to the protection of the Oconee River from northeast Georgia to the head of the Altamaha. Learn more at www.altamahariverkeeper.org.
 
For more information, contact Joe Cook at 706-409-0128 or via e-mail atjoecookpg@gmail.com; contact April Ingle at 706-549-4508 or ingle@garivers.org; contact Ben Emanuel at 706-340-8868 or oconee@altamahariverkeeper.org; or visit www.garivers.org and click on Paddle Georgia.

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