 |
| Rock Eagle 4-H camp. Photo by me, November 2012. |
As an elementary student in the 1980s I was a member of 4-H, an organization that dates back to the early 1900s with its origins in rural and agricultural life. I did live in a rural area, but we were not farmers and in terms of my agriculture exposure it was in the family vegetable and flower gardens and visits to my Tennessee relatives who were actual farmers. I remember little of my activities in 4H other than coloring books and a little metal pin, mostly I remember the logo which was a four leaf clover and their green color scheme that made me think of St. Patrick's Day.
They had a motto too: the 4-H represented head, heart, hands and health and their motto was , "learn by doing." The motto stuck with me throughout life and I still find that experiential learning is best for me. The idea of experiential learning came into vogue again in the late 1960s and 70s and was employed as a part of the core methodology of the Foxfire program for students and was developed in Rabun County, Georgia.
I also remember reading and hearing about the mysterious sounding Rock Eagle. It seemed to be the center of the 4-H universe in Georgia as it was always mentioned in the newsletters. There was a figure of a cartoonish bird who appeared to have melted and was meant to represent Rock Eagle.
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
 |
| It is a beautiful place to visit in the fall. Photo by me, November 2012. |
Rock Eagle is a camp for kids near Eatonton in east central Georgia as part of 1,500 acre park. As a kid, I never visited the camp and over time I had forgotten about Rock Eagle until I was reminded of it when I heard about an arts and crafts festival being held there.
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
The park is much more interesting than a camp for kids as the main attraction is a part of Georgia history dating back to 1,000 to 3,000 years as estimated by archaeologists. Built of white quartz is an effigy mound believed to have possibly been constructed by Woodland Indians. At least that is the latest opinion of archaeologists who have been studying the mysterious mound in the shape of a bird since the late 1800s and once thought it to be 5,000 years old. The bird shaped mound is called an eagle, but some scholars suggest that it may be a buzzard instead since buzzards represented death to some ancient people. I lean towards a buzzard based on the shape of the head, but I will leave that determination to the experts.
 |
| The rock eagle or possibly buzzard. Photo by me, November 2012. |
Rock Eagle is impressive in size spanning 120 feet from head to tail and 102 feet from wingtip to wingtip. The thousands of rocks are piled as high as ten feet in the center. The ceremonial mound which has yielded artifacts is located a few miles another bird shaped mound known as Rock Hawk. There is perhaps another bird mound, the Pressley Mound, nearby, but that one has either been partially destroyed or is in dispute.
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
 |
| Photo by me, November 2012. |
For the best of the view of Rock Eagle there is a stone viewing tower. The tower was one of many projects built by the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The tower was an interesting to me as the bird.
I do not know if being a member of 4-H as a kid means a lifetime membership, but I finally made it to camp decades later. Rock Eagle is free and open to the public.
Posts
