Just a reminder about the Dedication Ceremony and Back-to-School Picnic that
will take place THIS Thursday, August 23rd. Here are detailed directions to Elsie Holmes Nature Park.
Go to the intersection
of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road and East Brainerd. Turn onto Ooltewah-Ringgold Rd. going toward Ringgold, GA. The park is 5 miles from this
intersection. Soon after turning onto Ooltewah-Ringgold Rd., you will cross over into Georgia. You will pass Windstone subdivision
on the right. Keep going straight and you will go past a large sign that says Mercy Stables. Next you will pass a large horse show
arena. I think they have the PRCA Rodeo there but not positive. Anyway, you stay straight on Ooltewah-Ringgold Rd.
After
you pass the rodeo area, you will start to see yellow road signs on the right. The first sign shows the railroad track and has Saunders
Rd. written on it. After this sign will be another yellow road sign that shows a truck and trailer attached going over a railroad.
After this sign, get ready to turn right onto Saunders Rd. A small brown Elsie Holmes park sign will be on the left but you might
not see it. Turn right and go over the railroad tracks. After the tracks, you will turn right and immediately go around
a curve. You are basically going through a subdivision to get to the park. Keep going around the winding road but don't turn
off Saunders. Stay on that road until you see Ben Holmes Road on the left. Again, there is a small brown sign that has the park name
on it by the road. Turn onto Ben Holmes Rd. and it will dead end into the park. I plan on putting balloons around the road signs
so that might help visually. The address for the park is 88 Ben Holmes Road, Ringgold, GA if you want to mapquest it from your
house.
The park is reserved from 4 - 8:30pm. We will be there at 4pm getting ready and organizing food as you bring it. We will heat
up your hot dogs (but not grill them) or you can bring them heated already. We have rented the screened-in pavilion for our picnic
and time together. There is a small park area and the cleanest bathroom I have ever seen in a park area! The main attraction is the
nature walk. Wear good shoes and walk down the trail to the river. It is so pretty and relaxing with benches along the way.
This is
a great time to meet the teachers, mingle, play on the swingset, walk the trail down to the river, etc. It's very important to me
that dads are able to attend this event with their families, so we will have the blessing and start the picnic at 6pm.
After eating,
I will give you all the information that I have about classes, schedules, locations, fees, etc. We have been working very
hard on getting all the information that you will need for the CHE school year. We will also have a short orientation program
and introduction to the CHE mission with time for questions too.
