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After months of delays caused in part by pandemic-related supply-chain issues, the repairs to Disharoon Lake are not only underway but are hitting a key phase.

This week, crews fused together 40-foot-long segments of high-density polyethylene pipe with a specialized device that heats the plastic to 450 degrees and forces the ends together, which forms a bond stronger than the pipe itself. As new pieces were joined together, the newly lengthened pipe was pulled, bit by bit, into the old, slightly wider, damaged pipe. The entire fusing and pulling stage was completed around noon Thursday.

Next up: Crews are scheduled to create a pipe bulkhead, which connects the lower-level outlet – essentially the drain to Disharoon – to the just-installed pipe. And next week, the team will inject a high-strength concrete grout to fill the subterranean voids between the new pipe and the older damaged pipe This will help secure and protect the new pipe under the weight of the earthen dam that created Disharoon Lake, which the POA is aiming to re-open for summertime fun in mid-July.

To read more about all things Disharoon, please check out the June 9 post on the project.

This 10,000-pound pipe fusion machines heat up the ends of pipes and fittings to 450 degrees, then forces them together to form a bond.

The post Crucial Disharoon Lake pipe installation is underway, on schedule appeared first on Inside the Gates.

The Big Canoe Travel Club will be reviewing a trip to the Northwest Wine Country planned for May 2022.

Experience the best of the Columbia and Snake Rivers, from Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge and the Columbia River Gorge’s Multnomah Falls to the Snake River Hells Canyon, with two nights in beautiful Coeur d’Alene Resort!
A few Highlights:

Spend 2 nights in Portland, Oregon
Several wine tastings while taking in spectacular mountain views
Tour Fort Walla Walla from the days of Lewis and Clark
Narrated Jet Boat excursion down the Snake River
Horse drawn wagon ride and Cowboy lunch
Two nights at fabulous Coeur d’Alene Resort
Tour a real silver mine

All Travel Club meetings are free. Attendance is limited, so please register by calling 706-579-5005, or email mziegenbalg@dreamvacations.com. If you wish to have dinner afterward, please make reservations directly with the Club at (706) 268-1253.

The post A Trip to the Northwest Wine Country appeared first on Inside the Gates.

Big Canoe POA Board of Directors member Lou Stephenson announced her resignation today, stepping down six months before the completion of a three-year term.

Stephenson and her husband recently sold their Big Canoe home to ultimately move closer to family and friends, she said. They will continue living in Big Canoe for several months.

“It is with personal regret that due to no longer being classified as a Property Owner, I will be not be able to fulfill the remaining months of my term representing those who elected me to the Board of Directors,” Stephenson said.

On Stephenson’s service on the Board, President Candace Robertson said: “We appreciate the time Lou has devoted to the Board for the past two and a half years and we wish her well in her next chapter.”

Stephenson’s position will remain vacant until it is filled in the upcoming election. On Dec. 4, 2021, an incoming Board member will fill the vacancy when they begin a three-year term.

“My time on the Board has been a pleasure,” Stephenson said. “I’ve enjoyed the professionalism of the Board members I have served with over the last two and a half years and I can attest I have learned more about the day-to-day operations of Big Canoe than I thought possible.

“The residents of Big Canoe should be proud of the efforts of the Board members they have elected, their willingness to volunteer the personal time required to serve this community, and their dedication to ensuring Big Canoe operates in a competent and fiscally responsible way,” she added. “The POA Board of Directors are focused on successfully managing the challenges of this community. It is not an easy job.”

The post POA Board Vice President Lou Stephenson resigns appeared first on Inside the Gates.

A serious golfing pedigree is an obvious prerequisite for any new Golf Professional, but what about someone who has 1) governed a municipality 2) mentored and instructed groups to unify as a successful team and 3) deeply appreciates throwing a knuckleball vs. a fastball?

Mike Miller, Big Canoe’s new head golf professional, is all that and more. Since his first day of work on June 1, he has made a mark with his unusually varied background and mix of management skills honed in the golfing world – and as the current mayor of Flowery Branch, the Hall County town east of Lake Lanier.

Mike fielded a few questions about himself, describing how he’s gone from governing a city to working with the Big Canoe community.

Name: Mike Miller
Age: 46
Title: Head Golf Professional
Most recent golf work experience: Assistant golf pro at St Marlo Country Club in Duluth for the past nine months; head golf pro at Lanier Islands Legacy Golf Course in Buford for three years.
Other experience: Mayor of Flowery Branch, November 2009 through Dec. 31, 2021.
How can you be a mayor and our golf pro at the same time? The daily operations of Flowery Branch are handled by the City Manager, who is a full-time employee, and the mayoral position is a part-time job with a $6,000 a year salary. “The mayor’s job is a labor of love,” Miller said, “and you must supplement that with a full-time position.”
Additional work experience: Music teacher for 13 years. “As part of my duties, I taught everything from elementary general music to high school marching band.”
What’s your instrument? trombone
Family: wife Diane, an assistant principal at a middle school; sons David, 14, and Tanner, 13
What attracted you to Big Canoe? “The first thing was the beauty of the place and the second was the active golf community,” he said. “There are so many golfers here. As a golf professional, it’s so nice to have golfers who appreciate and love the game as you do.”
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities in coming into Big Canoe? “It’s an opportunity to grow with the renovations on the Creek 9 and the excitement that’s building toward getting a fresh golf course reopened for Property Owners to enjoy.”
What’s your goal here? “For the golf operations: to bring a Chick-fil-A customer-service mentality where everyone feels welcomed and greeted with a smile, whether that’s in-person or on the phone. When guests approach us, they need to feel the same kind of customer service as when walking into Chick-fil-A. When they’re getting back into their car, after you load their bag into the trunk, they need to experience that same level of service. That’s the easy stuff. That doesn’t cost anything. And if it doesn’t cost anything, we should be doing that 100 percent of the time.”
Favorite golfer: Arnold Palmer
What do you enjoy during the rare occasion you have downtime? Just seeing my kids participate in their activities, which are cross country or track with my younger son Tanner, who turned 13 on Saturday, or baseball games with my older son, David, who just turned 14 a week ago last Friday.
The closeness of his sons’ ages: “People say, ‘Wow, they’re a year apart. You know how that happens, right?’ And I always say, ‘Yes, by adoption.’ Tanner, our youngest one, was adopted.
It’s perfectly fine that everybody knows that. In sharing our story with folks, we hear about how lives have been affected by the foster system and adoption. People come up and tell me, ‘I read your son was adopted,’ or ‘I was adopted.’ It’s a unique thing that more people relate to than you really know.”
What artist from your playlists do you most often listen to? “Everything except for gangster rap. It would definitely be country. I used to live and teach in Newnan, Ga., so I love Alan Jackson. If I could come back in a second life, it would be Vince Gill. I love his voice and he is an amazing guitar player. And he’s a scratch golfer.”
How does being a trombone player fit into all this? “If you look at my playlists, there’s everything from musicals to symphonies to big band. I got pop and some Katy Perry and Lady Gaga and Billy Joel. It’s a little bit of everything. You’d probably find a little Justin Bieber on there.”
Hero or role model: “I have loved baseball all my life. I was never the fastest pitcher in the world. And the realist in me realized a pitcher needed something to make you successful. Growing up as a kid, I always wanted to throw a knuckleball. Come full circle: (Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher) Phil Niekro lived in Flowery Branch and through my mayor duties, I actually got to know him very well. I considered him a friend. When David’s baseball team did a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (N.Y.), I was standing in the room where the players’ plaques are and I was looking a Phil’s. At that exact moment, he called me on my cell phone to invite me to play in his charity golf tournament.”
What’s your idea of a perfect day: Playing some golf with my son David, because he’s dying to come up to our golf course and play here in Big Canoe. And then a nice dinner out with some Italian food and the whole family. Ending the evening at Truist Park watching the Braves beat the Nationals.

The post Meet Mike Miller, Big Canoe’s new Golf Pro appeared first on Inside the Gates.

Dear Neighbor,

Just as pandemic restrictions were lifted and a sense of normalcy was returning to Big Canoe, this encouraging news coincided with the discovery of a leak in the corroded 220-foot pipe leading out of Disharoon Lake

The kind of summer that we have all come to love in Big Canoe was in doubt.

I am pleased to let you know that we’ve turned a corner: Big Canoe and Federal EC, which specializes in pipe inspection and repair, have inked an agreement that will allow a permanent replacement of the corroded pipe. This puts us on course to open Disharoon in mid-July and restore much of what we all love about Big Canoe’s favorite summertime hotspot.

The subject of Disharoon Lake is perhaps the one I am asked about most often. With that in mind, here are some questions and issues that I’d like to address.

Is Big Canoe is going to have a summer?
The Wildcat and Beach Club pools opened on May 29 on schedule; we’re gearing up for an activity-packed Fourth of July weekend, complete with fireworks over Lake Petit; and we’re about to cut the ribbon on the new bocce courts on Wednesday, June 16. And don’t forget the opening of the new sports court near Wildcat this summer. With all of this plus our children’s camps, there is no shortage of summertime activities.

However, Disharoon is one of our biggest seasonal attractions. We will indeed have the lake filled, the beach open, and watercraft paddling. We are inspecting the rockslide for damage and will dredge out the splash pools – so we hope to have our kids careening down the rockslide again in mid-July.

When exactly will Disharoon be back?
The process of draining the lake has been rife with unexpected challenges, including weather events that set us back, so we’re hesitant to commit to a specific date. That said, we are aiming for a mid-July opening.

Why can’t you commit to a specific date – and is the Fourth of July weekend a possibility?
We can’t count on everything to always fall into place as planned, including the weather – and we are hesitant to lock in a definitive July 4 opening. While there is a chance we can get this done ahead of the projected mid-July date, when you are dealing with an infrastructure that is nearly a half-century old, you can’t count on each step to unfold exactly as envisioned.

What has to be done?
There have been three major issues to address.

The first centers around the 220-foot-long corrugated metal drain pipe (CMP) that passes through the bottom of the earthen dam that created Disharoon Lake. The engineering plan is to slip a more durable, permanent, 220-foot-long high-density polyethylene pipe inside the outdated CMP. A high-strength concrete grout will then be injected around the new pipe, filling any voids surrounding the damaged metal pipe. With all the recent pandemic-related supply-chain issues, we were unable to secure a pipe with the required size and strength for the job until the end of May.

The second issue concerns a concrete collar, which will be poured over the exposed end of the corrugated pipe where the original damage occurred. The concrete collar, laid on an engineered foundation, will secure the new pipe in place and protect the structure around its penetration point in the earthen dam.

The final issue was the lake’s sluice gate. The sliding gate, which allows us to control the volume of water released from the lake, appeared to be stuck open. The tireless efforts of a team led by Geosyntec Consultants, the engineering specialists who work with us on our dams, and the POA Public Works department got the gate moving freely in the last week of May.

Now that the three issues can be addressed, what’s next?                                                                                                                                    In conjunction with Geosyntec and our Public Works crew, Federal EC is scheduled to arrive on site this week and, weather permitting, likely to start work next week on simultaneously fixing those first two issues. Once the segments of the new pipe are fused together and installed, the grouted pipe will go in place and the concrete collar set. Then, we will begin slowly refilling the lake we all love. We are cautiously optimistic we can get these tasks completed by mid-July. But as we continue to learn in dealing with our nearly 50-year-old infrastructure, we don’t want to overpromise and under deliver. And the weather has to cooperate.

When you get the pipe working and the Disharoon is full, can we finally enjoy the lake?
Disharoon will open for sunbathing on our refreshed beach, with swimming and paddling watercraft available. The rockslide is undergoing inspection to determine if any damage occurred to its smooth, coated surface during all our spring storms. And the splash pools at the bottom of the rockslide need to be cleaned of silt. The inflatables will have to wait another year before we can enjoy them.

Will the opening of Disharoon affect my Aquatics Amenity Plan?
Daily passes for the reopened Disharoon/Beach Club will be $10 for Property Owners, $15 for visitors. The fee also includes same-day access to the Wildcat Pool. Daily passes for just the Wildcat Pool are $4 for Property Owners, $6 for visitors. Weekly passes that provide access to Disharoon/Beach Club and Wildcat are $50 for Property Owner, $75 for visitors. The all-access seasonal plan is available only for Property Owners at $180 for a full membership, $70 for an individual. For more info: tsawyer@bigcanoepoa.org.

Will any further work be required at Disharoon Lake?
The wooden swim dock at the lake is also very old – and its replacement with a new modular concrete seawall and floating canoe launches was part of our 2021 Capital Replacement budget. This work was originally planned for October 2021 and is on schedule to be completed at that time. We are also ordering several replacement brackets and parts for the sluice gate now that we have been able to fully inspect it after 48 years. These parts will also be installed this fall. Disharoon will therefore be slowly drained one more time in October under a plan developed and monitored by Geosyntec that also will ensure everything is still in good working order.

How is all this being paid for?
We estimate that the full cost of repairs for the lower level drain pipe, sluice gate, and dredging of Lake Sconti will be in the range of $1.5-1.8 million. This is being paid for out of our combined Operational Cash, Capital Replacement, and Master Plan Accounts. Note that a portion of this work was already included in the Capital Replacement Budget for 2021.

Couldn’t have we predicted this?
The issue with Disharoon emerged after the lake had been drained and a late March 2021 deluge strained and damaged the exposed drainage system. This problem hadn’t yet emerged in November 2020 when Geosyntec conducted a camera inspection of the pipeline, which did not reveal the problem that recently became apparent, said Wesley MacDonald, Geosyntec senior engineer.

Who’s to say we won’t have the same issues with Lake Petit dam?
Unlike Disharoon Lake, Lake Petit’s lower-level drain system is constructed of reinforced concrete. Lake Petit’s sluice gate was inspected by trained divers in September 2020. Also, a full underground camera inspection was performed by Geosyntec of the entire Lake Petit lower-level outlet drain system at the same time. Unlike the Lake Petit Dam, Disharoon’s dam was built with a galvanized metal outlet pipe – much like the ones recently replaced on the Creek 9 Course. These are two completely different constructed structures.

Sincerely,

Scott Auer

General Manager

The post A message from Big Canoe GM Scott Auer: Good news about Disharoon Lake appeared first on Inside the Gates.

What: Ribbon cutting and unveiling of the new bocce courts
When: 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 9
Where: Near the old bocce courts at Wildcat Pavilion
Admission: Free for ceremony
Food and drink: Slices from Dominic’s Wood-Fired Pizza truck, beer, wine, soft drinks
Why: One of Big Canoe’s most beloved amenities is coming back in full force with four beautifully designed bocce courts. More than a game, bocce is a way of life that fosters friendship, builds community, and is a blast to master, say most ardent fans. The easy-to-learn game originated in Italy and immigrated to the U.S., but has variants thriving in Spain and France.
What if it gets dark?: Out comes the lighted bocce set, which has internally illuminated balls that allow for play in the dark.
How to play: After a white ball, known as a pallino, is introduced to the court, players take turns rolling out larger balls – colored red or green, depending on the team – with the objective of getting closest to the pallino.

La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life Of Bocce

John Feight is one of the capos, if you will, of Big Canoe’s most dedicated bocce posses: The Bocce Boys. So enamored with the sport, they refer to bocce play as La Dolce Vita – Italian for “the sweet life.” (Also the name of an insane Fellini movie with Anita Ekberg, but we digress.)

You can find John and his fellow Bocce Boys on the bocce courts on most mornings.

John was kind enough to provide us with some images — and helpful tips for newcomers who don’t know their pallino from their Pavarotti.

Bocce Tips To Roll

By John Feight

1. Don’t think – just roll. Pretend you are basketball star Steph Curry and you have rolled 10,000 times. Just relax. Focus on the pallino – the little white ball – and just roll. Don’t overthink.

2. Find your best stance. Be comfortable. Then, repeat that stance every time you roll. While most players believe bending down to get close to the court is best, some players are successfully standing straight up and casually rolling the ball. Whatever works for you.Your best roll will happen when you “follow through” with your roll. Aim for the pallino and keep your hand pointing toward the pallino after releasing the ball.

3. Don’t roll long! Always try to keep your ball near or in front of the pallino. If you are in front of the pallino, your opponents may hit your ball closer to the pallino. If your ball is past the pallino, your chances of scoring are slim.

4. Watch your opponent’s ball. Notice how their ball rolls and where they aimed their ball as well as where they were standing when they rolled it. You can do the same or adjust your throw. Keep your head in the game.

5. Banking is part of the game. If you are blocked by your opponent’s ball, you may use the sideboards to bank your shot to slide in behind your opponent’s ball and get next to the pallino.

6. Always keep in mind you need to create a defense to either protect your ball or to prevent your opponent from scoring — another reason to stay in front of the pallino.

7. The Vallone – named after Peter and Margo Vallone of Big Canoe – is a measuring can with a string attached. We found it was the easiest way to measure which balls are closest to the pallino.

8. If you get serious about developing your game, Google or go to YouTube and search for “bocce tips” or “how to improve my bocce game.”

9. Finally, remember bocce is a social game – played with friends. Let the good times roll! La Dolce Vita!

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By Alice Eachus
Photos by Donna Trimble

For those with young kids or grands who love or once loved Barney, no doubt you’ve heard the song BINGO about three thousand times. Somebody must have won really big to latch a dog
with that moniker.
The game of bingo with its wild and crazy spinning drum is alive and well in Big Canoe. The ladies of Still Young at Heart (SYAH) play on the last Thursday of the month. This time of year,
the Wildcat Pavilion is the place where numbers are called. Ladies bring their smiles and beverage of choice for an hour or two of fun.
All SYAH members are invited to giggle and gab while vying for the most intriguing prizes.
Gretchen Hudock calls the numbers, and no, she can’t be bought. A lovely version of Vanna White posts critical info on the big board.
If you’d like to get in on this high-spirted action and are not yet a member of the 600 strong SYAH gals, all you have to do is check out the SYAH Facebook page and join up.
Not a Facebook follower? No worries. Shoot Sherry Evans an email at srevans284@gmail.com and she’ll add your name to the roster. After that, check insidethegates.org regularly for updated
SYAH activity.

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