Volunteerism Oconee County, adjacent to (and once part of) Clarke County (home to the University of Georgia) is home to many university faculty, staff, personnel, and students. Oconee County has a long history of outstanding dedicated volunteerism.The award winning Oconee Clean and Beautiful Commission, a volunteer organization, has in fact led river clean ups at a portion of the river known as Apalachee Beach for many years when it was timber company land. Other groups such as the Friends of the Aplaachee, the Citizens for South Oconee, and the Citizens for Responsible Growth have voiced their support of this project. Individual Oconee citizens (and even some outside Oconee) have volunteered their time and in some instances very valuable expertise to the development, design, building, and maintenance of this river walk. Vocational Agriculture teachers have been contacted and are anticipating years of projects for their students identifying plants, animals and geological formations along the River Walk. A recent vocational agriculture project in one of our high school programs- a student identified and entered into a GPS identification system every tree in a local park. Can you imagine the potential educational benefit of having such a 5 ½ mile pristine piece of nature in which to document such information. Then imagine having the ability to visit this river walk and have available a GPS identification system leading you through the entire experience. There is also the possibility of developing a virtual tour of the River Walk for the handicapped and others who are not able to actually walk the river walk. The possibilities are limited only to the imaginations of those involved in the river walk. Individuals or groups of volunteers will be able to help in many ways limited only by their interest and capabilities.