"This is really an educational adventure," said Joe Cook, coordinator of the event. "The idea is to allow people to explore the river, learn about it, gain an appreciation for it, and have a darn good time doing it."

Participants will paddle each day and then be shuttled by buses and vans to nearby facilities where participants will camp, enjoy games, entertainment, educational programs and catered dinners and breakfasts. Along the event route, participants will also have the opportunity to tour facilities located along the river such as Atlanta's R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Plant and Georgia Power's Plant Yates, a coal-fired power generating facility near Whitesburg.

The trip is suitable for novice paddlers as well as experienced paddlers and is open to any person-powered vessel, though canoes and kayaks are best suited for the trip.

"We hope to have a lot of families," Cook said. "A week-long canoe trip is not an easy thing for a family to plan. This trip allows a family to participate in a great adventure without having to fret over all the logistics."

The trip begins Friday, June 24, with a kick off dinner in Buford and ends July 1 with a River's End Celebration at Riverside Park in Franklin.

The idea for the event was hatched during Cook's 100-day, 540-mile canoe trip down the Chattahoochee in 1995.

"That trip from the mountains to the Gulf of Mexico was an incredible experience. It was really a lesson in how a river works, how it changes on its journey to the sea and how much it provides for us," Cook said. "Ever since that trip, I've wanted other people to experience the Chattahoochee. The best way to understand and appreciate a river is to get on it and follow in its path." In 2000, Cook and his former wife, Monica, published a coffee-table book, River Song, which details the couple's adventures on the river. In 2002, the Cooks also paddled the 160-mile length of the Etowah River with their three-year-old daughter.

Georgia River Network's Executive Director April Ingle and Administration and Outreach Director Dana Skelton latched on to the idea of a paddling adventure in the spring of 2004 and decided such an event would be a tremendous service to Georgia citizens. Planning began in the summer of 2004.

Registration for the event is currently underway. The event is limited to the first 200 registrants. Registration fees for the full event are $165 for adults, $145 for seniors and college students and $125 for children 8-17. Children under 8 paddle for free. Participants may also sign up for a single day or multiple days. Daily fees are $30 for adults and $25 for seniors, college students and children.

The Paddle Georgia registration fee includes a T-shirt, boat decal, a ticket to the kick-off feast and the journey's end feast and celebration, camping with bath facilities, shuttles to campsites, maps and river descriptions, entertainment, activities, educational programs and safety services.

Each year, a portion of the Paddle Georgia proceeds will benefit a watershed group protecting the river. In 2005, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper will receive a portion of the proceeds. Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization that advocates and secures the protection and stewardship of the Chattahoochee River, its tributaries and watershed, in order to restore and conserve their ecological health for the people and fish and wildlife that depend on the river system.

Participants will also have the opportunity to win prizes through Paddle Georgia's Canoe-a-thon in which participants solicit donations on a per-mile basis to benefit Georgia River Network and the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Participants generating the most Canoe-a-thon donations will receive prizes, and any participant generating more than $350 in Canoe-a-thon pledges will have their registration fee reimbursed.

In addition to Georgia Power, the event is supported by Earth Fare, Wildwood Outfitters, Appalachian Outfitters, Patagonia, High Country Outfitters, Wenonah Canoes, Current Designs, and REI. Georgia River Network expects Paddle Georgia to become an annual event. In 2006, Paddle Georgia will explore Northwest Georgia's Etowah River.

Georgia River Network is the only statewide environmental non-profit organization solely dedicated to the conservation of Georgia's waters. GRN helps people organize to protect and restore rivers and watersheds by building local group capacity and providing statewide water policy analysis.

For more information, contact Joe Cook at 706-235-1170 or via e-mail at [email protected] or contact Dana Skelton at 706-549-4508 or via e-mail at [email protected] or visit www.garivers.org and click on the Paddle Georgia icon.