It was a big day in Lumpkin County. A day that may be remembered for years. And on that day, Commissioner Tucker Greene was on hand with some wise advice to impart. “Go with the blue slide!” he said as we stood at the top of the waterslide tower at Pinetree Recreation Center. “It’s faster!” And with that the elected official hopped into a steep, watery tunnel and disappeared.
The District 1 representative's endorsement convinced me. I would try the blue slide first.
Though Theo was next in line.
As we waited for the lifeguard to give him the thumbs up, I stood at the top of that tower and looked at the water park grand opening taking place down below. And as I did, I had a distinct and reoccurring thought:
“I’m about to ride a waterslide…in Lumpkin County.”
Hey, I didn’t say it was a deep thought. But it was a noteworthy thought.
It’s a thought that took years of planning and months of construction and millions of tax payers' dollars to turn into a reality.
This may be one small slide for me…but it’s one giant slide for Lumpkin County-kind.
Checking The Nugget archives, it was back in 2018 when Sharon Hall first started writing stories about the early stages of aquatic center planning. She’s since retired. (A couple of times.)
Then Jake Cantrell wrote a series of articles as the project moved through different phases. (He too has moved on, but not retired.) Keith Murden was the next in line with a steady stream of aquatic updates. (Thankfully he’s not retired and still here.)
During those six years or so, Lumpkin County was public pool-less.
While six years might not seem that long in adult time, for eight year old Theo (the next guy in line for the blue slide) that’s pretty much his entire life so far. So with no local pool to dive into, he spent a lot of time swimming in the driveway.
Yes, one summer I bought a big inflatable above-ground pool from Amazon. And it was great. For exactly one summer. Then it popped.
The next year I got greedy and bought a bigger one. There’s a slight tilt at the end of our driveway that you wouldn’t notice unless, well, you’re sitting in a large pool of slanted water. That slant, mixed with one too many belly flops and/or cannonballs resulted in an AFV-worthy tidal wave that completely flooded my backyard.
Well, on opening day, the only tidal wave I saw came from the big splashing bucket, dumping gallons of water on happy screaming kids. Meanwhile a lazy river full of local residents on pool noodles flowed by as even more swimmers splashed in the big six-lane pool around the corner. Amidst it all, Chairman Chris Dockery was in the mix, talking to folks as the crowd started to grow.
At the gate, County Manager Alan Ours was passing out water bottles and tickets for free slushies.
Like I said, it was a big important day.
And I sure am glad it's officially arrived.
Sure there are still some issues to work out. The weekday hours have been scaled back because lifeguards are needed. And the swim team deserves some kind of bubble on the competition pool so they can swim year round. (More than 100 kids signed up, so I’d say the support is there). But these are sub-headlines in the big story. And that story is that the long-awaited aquatic rec center is finally here.
It’s big.
It’s awesome.
It has multiple water slides.
And it even has plenty of pickleball.
So bring on the belly flops and/or cannonballs.
Because, finally, my backyard is safe from above-ground tidal waves.
