Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
It was miles of smiles and smooth sailing along the Upper Autauga Creek Sunday afternoon for the first ever Paddles and Pumpkins event where the Autauga Creek Improvement Committee, ACIC, along with the City of Prattville organized a day of fall fun and supporting local.
The free event kicked off at 11 a.m. with the first float at the Allenville Rd. Park/ Launch at 560 Allenville Rd the Upper Allenville Launch & Landing in Prattville, at about mile marker seven and a half on the Upper Autauga Creek, President of the ACIC Skip Lobmiller confirmed.
Kayakers of all ages, ranging from expert river paddlers to first time kayakers gathered for the event, where the river trail took them all the way to the upper dam in historic downtown Prattville. Where their perfect pumpkin was waiting for participants in the river.
The free festivities continued with food from Uncle Mick’s and even pumpkin painting to be added to the display of over 3,000 pumpkins in the Parade of Pumpkins in downtown Prattville.
Lobmiller stated that this was all made possible because of Alabama Senator Clyde Chambliss, Lisa Byrd and the City of Prattville.
“We’re fortunate enough Senator Clyde Chambliss reached out to me back in February and said the State of Alabama’s Tourism Development and Travel Department had some grant money. They were looking to spread it around the state and urged me to apply and I reached out to the city. I knew the Parade of Pumpkins was coming up and I got with Lisa Byrd at the mayor’s office, and we made this happen together. Her and her city grant writer were very gracious and made things happen for us and dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s,” Lobmiller said.
The city grant writer for the City of Prattville is Dawn Russell.
Over $7,800 in grants made the first and hopefully annual Paddles and Pumpkins event possible, Lobmiller stated. With over 150 registered for the event, not including individuals that did not register and still came out to enjoy the fall sunshine. Lobmiller confirmed participants were from all over the state of Alabama, the panhandle of Florida, and even from Georgia who registered for the event.
“I made sure that my board members were all on board with spending the money with local vendors. That’s how we got Uncle Mick’s, Prattville PaddleSports and everybody else out here today. We wanted to keep it all right here and the Parade of Pumpkins was already drawing a huge crowd. We’re so very blessed to be here doing this today.” Lobmiller said with a smile.
Lobmiller also noted how blessed the ACIC is to be a partner with the Alabama River Alliance, the City of Prattville, and also thanked the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Prattville Downtown Merchants, their sponsors as well as their supporters.
The ACIC started back in 2011, with a group of people determined to clean up the Autauga Creek to make the scenic and pristine Creek Trail that Prattville residents know and love today, into a National Recreation Site.
“We have some awesome sponsors, supporters and members of the ACIC Board. I know they’ll roll their sleeves up, pitch in and donate whenever they can. Many folks are aware of the Lower Creek. They see it all the time downtown. A bunch of folks, even lifelong residents from Prattville did not even know this place existed. We started exploring upstream (where the Paddles and Pumpkins event took place) when we wanted to become a national recreation trail,” Lobmiller said.
The Autauga Creek trail is about 13 miles in total, Lobmiller stated, where he and members of the ACIC keep the upkeep of the River Trail to the best of their ability.
“It’s hard to keep it all clean. Mother Nature does what she wants to, but the property owners around the creek are always so gracious and let us come through to get access with our chainsaws to not only clean up after a storm, but to help clean up and keep the creek pristine. It really does take a village,” Lobmiller said.
However, you can do your part by not only packing out what you pack in, but also by picking up litter and trash you see along the way.
“You can do your part at home by picking up litter in the yard because when it rains it goes right into the gutter. We can all do our part right there in the parking lot at work. At the shopping center, if you see something, pick it up,” Lobmiller said.
Lobmiller confirmed that the ACIC gets together about once a month for a cleanup event. If anyone is interested in volunteering or paddling with the ACIC, reach out to Lobmiller and other Board members on Facebook at Autauga Creek Improvement Committee. Lobmiller confirmed that it is a private Facebook group for added security; to join and follow along, it only takes three simple questions to stay in the loop.
