Love Your State Parks Day Festival with participation by Southeastern Outings

Join with a great many other people at this most enjoyable event dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of and generating community support for preserving, nurturing and supporting our marvelous state parks.  The objectives of this event are to strategically increase attendance at Alabama’s State Parks through social media, word of mouth, and convincing individual park directors to support this initiative.  Special programs in connection with this festival on September 24 are designed to increase attendance at our State Parks and allow supporters of the parks to gain additional impact for their message, especially support for Amendment Two to permanently protect Alabama’s State Parks funding.

Bring the whole family and your friends interested in outdoor activities to enjoy the great outdoors at Oak Mountain State Park on September 24.  Children of all ages are welcome.  When you arrive at the Dogwood Pavilion, please stop by the Love Your State Parks Day Information Booth. There you can obtain general information about the Festival and directions to the Southeastern Outings table which will be nearby.

Please stop by the Southeastern Outings table at the event to visit with us. We will have information on Southeastern Outings and engraved mini-carabiner key rings to hand out to prospective new members who sign in with us at the festival. 

At 2:00 p.m. during the Love Your State Parks Day Festival on September 24 Southeastern Outings will lead a relatively easy dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park. You are encouraged to participate in this hike with others attending the Festival.  The hike will be open to all persons attending the Love Your State Parks Day Festival, Southeastern Outings people, and members of the general public visiting the park that afternoon.  See separate Create Birmingham event announcement for specific information about the hike.

Alabama State Parks have some of the most beautiful land that America has to offer.  It would be detrimental to wildlife and to communities if those natural areas were not protected.  Please come to help us celebrate Love Your State Parks Day!

Admission to the Festival: Free

Admission to Oak Mountain State Park: $5/person adults ($2 seniors age 62 and older and children age 4-11)

Information About the Festival: Maddie Hoaglund, 205-721-3281, email maddiehoaglund@gmail.com

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING PLACE

Dogwood Pavilion in Oak Mountain State Park

Take I-65 South from Birmingham to Exit number 246 for AL Highway 119/Cahaba Valley Road. Right off exit ramp, then left at first traffic light. Follow road 2 miles, then left at stop sign. Go 2 miles past the fee gate, then right onto Terrace Drive. Drive about 1.4 miles on Terrace Drive.  You will pass on the right in this order, the boat docks and boats, the park office parking lot with the park office building far in the back of that parking lot, the beach parking lot, basketball courts, an obvious playground, and then a large parking lot on the right immediately beside the road.

Drive on Terrace Drive to the far end of that parking lot and turn right and park in that parking lot.  The parking lot is immediately before Terrace Drive goes into thick woods before another road turns off to the left of it and goes up to Peavine Falls.

At the place where you turn right into the parking lot you will see signs for Lakeside Pavilion, Cedar Pavilion and Dogwood Pavilion among other things.   These signs point to the right.

After you park in that parking lot, face away from Terrace Drive.  The pavilion on your far right is the Dogwood Pavilion.  Look for the Southeastern Outings banner mounted high up near the bottom of the roofline to find our table.

Below are the amended and corrected announcements of the two events.  The corrected directions to the Dogwood Pavilion are inserted in place of the erroneous directions sent to you in the September newsletter and in the recent request for volunteers notice.

DESCRIPTION OF SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS

Do you wish you had friends who share your active lifestyle and enjoyment of outdoor activities?  Then become active with Southeastern Outings (SEO), a nonprofit organization committed and created to serve people who enjoy being active in the outdoors.  The organization plans, organizes and leads outings such as dayhikes, easy kayak and canoe trips, stream and waterfall walks, bicycle rides, lake events and other fun activities to beautiful sites in our natural environment.  From time to time we also sponsor potluck suppers and other socials.  All events and activities of the group are open to the public.  Participating in SEO activities is a splendid, simple way to make congenial new friends who enjoy the outdoors.

NO DOGS OR SMOKING ALLOWED, PLEASE, ON ANY SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS EVENTS.

The organization currently has about 300 members.  We scheduled ninety-one events during calendar year 2015 for an average of 8 fun events per month.  We enjoy the outdoors in all seasons throughout the year.  Nineteen people on average have participated in each outing since January 1, 2016. SEO does not charge for participation in any of its outings.  You do not have to be a member to participate in one r two SEO activities.  Dues are only $10.  Please contact Dan Frederick, President, 205-631-4680, or seoutings@bellsouth.net for more information and to obtain three free monthly newsletters with membership application and a complete description of all our outdoor events. Southeastern Outings now has a website.  Just go to seoutings.org to find announcements of all our upcoming outings scheduled plus some brief, general information about Southeastern Outings, a membership application and 1500 lovely photographs from several of our outings. Thank you.