Welcome To The Chattahoochee Chapter
Paula Cash
Tigard, Oregon
While working with Charles J. Hiers in the development of our newest ARS chapter, representing eastern Alabama and western Georgia, I became interested in the rich fabric of the area known as the Chattahoochee Trace. The name alone is simply wonderful, I have been told it is a Creek Indian name translated into "river of painted rock" or "red river". Native rhododendrons, R. minus or carolinianum , R. chapmanii , and R. maximum grow in this area. The river basin has been populated from prehistoric time by Indians, later by Spanish and French explorers and fur traders and became part of the British colony of Georgia. The Chattahoochee River that flows to the Gulf of Mexico provided transportation for the cotton bales grown in the prolific river basin. At the March first Board Meeting of the ARS, the Chattahoochee Chapter was unanimously accepted and welcomed by the members of the Board of Directors as a chapter of the ARS. The Chattahoochee Chapter of Auburn, Alabama area has elected as President: Charles J. Hiers, Vice President: Gordon Hughes, Ph.D., and Sec./Treas. R. Dennis Rouse, Ph.D. Many of the members are affiliated with Auburn University.