An Atlanta Celebration, Gone But Not Forgotten

[jfsatlbldr]

An Atlanta DJ's challenge to a GaTech fraternity quickly became a campuswide event that mushroomed into a major annual Atlanta event. 'The Great American Ramblin Raft Race' billed as the largest participating sporting event in the nation gave recognition and birth to what is now the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. The controversial event ended in the early 1980's after having grown into a national event drawing rafts and participants from across the nation. The following scanned duplicate slide images, of somewhat poor quality due to aging, are from the 1979 edition.
The start of the race at Morgan Falls Dam about a mile or so above Johnson Ferry rd.

The city of Atlanta even entered a raft, intended to help with trash disposal

Dress attire was 'optional'

Our raft was a submerged house, the red brick chimney held the keg! Note the construction company's 'crane raft' behind ours

Approaching I-285 near Riverbend Apts, the race headquarters for the week

Spectators at Riverbend shoreline

Spectators at Powers Ferry Landing, site of Ray's on the River. Riverbend was approximately the halfway point of the roughly 6 mile run to the current river takeout location.

The take out location at the end of the race course at US41 Cobb Pkwy, now called Paces Mill section of the NRA

[tennreb]

Wow, that looks like a lot of fun. I guess the anti-fun crowd got upset and had it banned.

[sabino86]

I was born about 30 years too late...

Got any more?

[BardSeed]

Whoa! Awesome!

[atl2phx]

that submerged house float is nothing short of awesome! what actually killed the event? i recall hearing the river became too dirty to support the event -- people became leery of floating down the river with other "sewage floaters"?

[Fiorenza]

what actually killed the event?

The culture changed. Boozing in public was no longer correct. Boomers' bodies took a turn for the worse.

[Teshadoh]

Tubing on the Chattahoochee still was common even in the early 90's when I moved to the area. But I think also the stigma of the river being dirty made it less popular, not to mention fiorenza's comment regarding public boozing.

[cabasse]

ah... consider the ability of natural bodies of water to bring people together...

thanks for sharing this joe, it looks like it had to be fun as hell. sean rowed for state last year, and has stories about how he got out on the river every morning at 5am to practice. it is beautiful in that it's been able to remain in a relatively natural state compared to rivers in other cities.

[Randy Sandford]

I enjoyed the pics, Joe! Here's a link for more detailed information about the event:

http://www.jaybusbee.com/river.htm

[atllocal74]

There was a tubing rental place near columns drive, where Johnson's Ferry crosses the river not too long ago. It was probably only 5-6 years ago that you would see hundreds of people tubing down the river with a cooler of beer on a sunny weekend, though nothing on the scale this event. Unfortunately too many weekends where E-Coli warnings were issued hurt business and they shut down.

There is still a tubing rental place in Buford closer to the Dam.

[whoDean]

I had never heard of this, looks like a ton of fun!

[jfsatlbldr]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

I enjoyed the pics, Joe! Here's a link for more detailed information about the event:

http://www.jaybusbee.com/river.htm

Randy, thanks so much for showing me that article. I hope everyone will take a moment to read it because it so accurately and colorfully describes the nature of the event and the times.

[tennreb]

Originally Posted by Teshadoh

Tubing on the Chattahoochee still was common even in the early 90's when I moved to the area. But I think also the stigma of the river being dirty made it less popular, not to mention fiorenza's comment regarding public boozing.

I've posted previously about Atlanta losing its Southerness, and this is a good example. In most areas of the South it is still perfectly acceptable to booze in public. A typical Saturday on the river between Austin and San Antonio doesn't look much different than this (minus the awesome floats). The river is full of floating coolers, though. In Mississippi, it's also very common, and I bet it is in Alabama and rural Georgia too. People need to fight to keep these things alive before all the South is is a bunch of strip malls and McMansions decorated with plastic magnolias.

[Teshadoh]

^ Drink booze in public? I had only heard about that being common in 'sin city' New Orleans. Remember - the south is home of the bible belt, & where I'm from - SC it is completely unheard of to drink in public civic places. The only places I saw people drinking in public growing up was at NASCAR races.

Otherwise, drinking in public is unfortunately VERY COMMON in parts of the city - Atlanta as well as low income areas of Dekalb & Clayton counties. Not just drinking in public, but drinking publicly in cars - such as cruising on Peachtree Street.

[Sketching]

Very cool to see these photos. Thank you for pulling them out of your archives and sharing them with us.

I was just a youngster then but I can remember hearing about the raft race. Atlanta and the culture in general was much more carefree back then.

[mayhem]

Originally Posted by Teshadoh

^ Drink booze in public? I had only heard about that being common in 'sin city' New Orleans. Remember - the south is home of the bible belt, & where I'm from - SC it is completely unheard of to drink in public civic places. The only places I saw people drinking in public growing up was at NASCAR races.

Otherwise, drinking in public is unfortunately VERY COMMON in parts of the city - Atlanta as well as low income areas of Dekalb & Clayton counties. Not just drinking in public, but drinking publicly in cars - such as cruising on Peachtree Street.

What's the big concern with drinking publically? Obviously drinking and driving is an issue, one that's can't be argued, but what is the difference from drinking inside a fence at The Vortex on Peachtree vs walking down W Peachtree with a beer on the way to a club?

[Teshadoh]

^ Perhaps things have calmed down, but when I lived in Midtown it was very common on the weekend for broken bottles of cheap beer & liquor to litter the sidewalks. I recall even in the light of day when Starbucks first opened, watching someone throw a bottle of beer out of his car. Not to mention in poor neglected neighborhoods, public drinking sends a strong negative message to it's inhabitants that lawlessness is tolerated.

I'm certainly not a tee-totaler, and I've drunk alcohol & been drunk in public places - but not everyone can be expected to control themselves or respect others & public / private property.

[Pillsbury Doughboy]

Wow that's great. A friend of mine used to live in those apartments back during that time. He and his wife used to swim in the Chat River all the time.

As far as public drinking: I think we've all taken that Saturday night walk around the neighborhood with a little more in our cup than sweet tea or gotten the to-go cup of Irish Coffee from the restaurant for the long walk home.

Public drinking is one of those things that is okay as until one person screws it up for everyone esle. And all it takes is one person. For the longest time Augusta lacked an open-container law, which meant to-go cups were standard at restaurants and bars, especially downtown and on the Hill. Of course, this stopped when the rednecks and thugs started bringing their drinks and hanging out on the sidewalks drinking and getting unruly.

[john3eblover]

that looks amazing. i think we've all been tubing on the chattahoochee at one point or another right?

[zodiac]

I saw the title of this thread and could have sworn you was talking about Freaknik!!!! LOL
That is until I saw the pics!