A Letter From City Manager
C. SETH SUMNER
Summer is here! Children and adults alike
tend to look forward to summertime. We
make big plans to be outdoors with family
and friends. Trips to the mountains, the
lake or river, sometimes a family vacation
out of state. We really are blessed with
natural resources in East Tennessee.
During a meeting last week with
consultants that are studying our quality
of life, I heard folks talking about how
great a place Athens and McMinn county
is; within an hour’s drive you can be in the
mountains, on the lake, or in a big city.
Those can all be nice things, but I had to
pause and consider – those things aren’t
actually what’s great about our community.
What makes our community great are all
the things that exist here.
Like you, my family’s plans this summer
include a trip out of state, but that’s just
for one week. What I am looking forward
to most of all is the everyday fun that I
can have here without driving or flying
somewhere else. I am looking forward
to taking my children to the Athens
Regional Park for them to play on the large
playground that has new rubber material
for ground cover, which means no more
picking mulch out of shoes when we get
home. I look forward to enjoying the new
splash pad at the park – what an incredible
new feature for our children to enjoy! I
wish we had those fun things when I was
growing up.
I also look forward to walking to downtown
Athens to enjoy free Sounds of Summer
concerts every Saturday night, as well as
enjoying shopping and dining with friends.
Walking or bicycling the Eureka Trail is
always a fun escape – as is a visit to the
Mayfield Visitor’s Center afterward for
some cool treats. The LITE House, E.G.
Fisher Public Library, The Arts Center,
and the McMinn County Living Heritage
Museum have lined up incredible learning
opportunities for our children throughout
the summer to make sure we exercise our
brains as well as our bodies!
We talk about the convenience of getting
somewhere else, but what makes Athens
so special is that we don’t need to get
anywhere else. There are more fun and
learning opportunities right here than we
could ever take advantage of – so let’s
enjoy our community together. I’ll see
you here.
Event Calendar:
July 12
Rivertown
Where: Calhoun
September 14
Fried Green Tomato Festival
Where: Niota
September 14
Cow Pea Festival
Where: Calhoun
October 5 - 6
Arts and Crafts
Where: Etowah
October 12
Pumpkintown
Where: Athens
SUMMER 2019 McMINN LIFE 15