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Spring has finally come to Atlanta and the Lake! For those of you who haven’t had a chance to make it up to Lake Rabun yet this Spring, I would encourage you to find a weekend before Memorial Day to enjoy the pastel shades of flowering trees and shrubs against the many brilliant and fierce shades of green that nature blesses us with as it first unfolds its glory every Spring. Lake Rabun is a wonderful place throughout the year, as many of us well know. Belle and I enjoy the Spring and Winter as much as Summer and Fall.

The newsletter has lots of interesting information about upcoming events on the Lake. We encourage you to take part in the myriad of activities throughout the Summer, geared towards all ages. There are also many exciting things going on in and around Halls, and in the old community of Lakemont, which the old timers will remember as the “wide spot in the road” where the Tallulah Falls railroad dropped its passengers off from Atlanta, to spend summers at the Lake. Its last whistle-stop was approximately 50 years ago. Back then, one didn’t “go to the Lake”, one actually went “to Lakemont”! Photos of the Tallulah Falls Railroad Station, and the old town of Lakemont, are among the archival photos on the wall in our lower community room at the Pavilion. Check them out this summer!

This Spring, a renaissance is taking place in the little community of Lakemont. The old Lakemont Lodge, whose stone foundation, chimney and porch columns have stood since its demise in the 1950s is being reborn as a brand new but quaint historic commercial building, which incorporates many of the original architectural details from the lodge. That building will house four tenants, including a day spa, garden center, antique and art gallery, and possibly a coffee and sandwich shop, which complement the other small shops in the immediate vicinity. Moreover, the Lake Rabun Hotel is under new ownership and hopes to open by Memorial Day. Couple that with the other shops, like Harrison’s Marina at the end of the Narrows, Hall’s, Louie’s, Alley’s, “Coming Home” and the “Seven Oaks Gallery”, and you have a wonderful array of small businesses that make our life on the Lake that much more unique and enjoyable. I strongly encourage each of us to support these local businesses as they depend largely on the Lake community for their livelihood.

Take some time this Spring to visit these establishments, and when given a choice between Wal-Mart and either Alley’s or Harrison’s, or buying plants at Home Depot versus the Lakemont Garden Center, give our local folks a shot. Need framing done? Try Kitty at Seven Oaks Gallery. Need a massage? Try out the day spa at Lakemont. I think you will be pleased with the results! And you will be supporting our wonderful and unique community.

Read on, have a great Spring, and Belle and I look forward to seeing you at “Lakemont”!

Robert P. Voyles
President, Lake Rabun Association