Fall Ramble Is ‘Best Ever’

Best ever” was the term being bandied by members and staffers of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation who spent last weekend on their “2003 Fall Ramble” meandering through homes and points of interest in Monticello and a scattering of Jasper County locales.

Some 200 visitors were impressed by not only the sites on the tour but also by the friendliness of their hosts and others here, said Allison Tyrer, communications director of the trust that has its headquarters in historic Rhodes Hall in Atlanta.
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Visitors came from over Georgia, cities as distant as Rome and Gainesville to the north and Bainbridge and St. Simons Island to the south.

On Saturday the “ramblers” were entertained at an orientation program at the Monticello Presbyterian Church where the welcoming program included introductions of local organizers and a piano performance by Mayor Susan Holmes. Tour headquarters was the visitors center at the Municipal Complex, which drew raves as an example of historic preservation.

The tour also included renovated portions of the County Courthouse that are not yet open for business, giving participants something of a sneak preview.

More than a dozen other homes and points of interest were on the itinerary before visitors were entertained at a reception at the Malone-Bishop Home on Forsyth Street and a subsequent dinner at the Kelly Home on College Street.

Sunday’s itinerary included a driving tour of the Monticello Crossroads Scenic Byway and Seven Islands Road with several stops in the Shady Dale area and other rural locales and including boxed lunches at Hequembeourg, the old Benton Place on Herd Creek Road that dates to about 1812.
A number of other Monticello homes and points of interest also were open Sunday.

The Georgia Trust, whose motto is “Reclaim, Restore, Revitalize” is said to be the nation’s largest statewide preservation organization with more than 8,000 members. It sponsors a number of funding and educational programs including the semiannual “rambles,” the next of which is scheduled for Whitfield-Murray Counties/Dalton next June.

Mayor Holmes, who is a trustee, said the visitors were very impressed with Monticello and Jasper County.

“It makes us appreciate what we have here,” she said.