I’ve hiked the nearly 1 mile Byron Herbert Reece Nature Trail in Vogel State Park several times over the years to enjoy the splendid mountain scenery and solitude. I’ve also negotiated the nearby Byron Herbert Reece Access Trail that climbs up Blood Mountain and connects the Reece Memorial Area with the Appalachian Trail in the Chattahoochee National Forest.
With so many places named after him, I surmised early on that Reece was an influential man in these parts.
Indeed, he was a poor dirt farmer in Union County who became the most revered poet of Georgia’s mountains. “He is known today as the poet whose old-fashioned, finely crafted ballads and lyrics celebrate the life and heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains,” said the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
The author of six volumes of poetry and two novels in the 1940s and 1950s, Reece was inspired by the beauty, ruggedness and wildness of North Georgia‘s mountains. Their seasons and cycles refreshed his weary mind -- just as they do today for those of us who seek spiritual renewal in nature.
As one writer put it: “In life and art, Reece was anchored to this landscape as if he were a part of this mountain range.”
He was born Sept. 14, 1917, in a one-room, hand-hewn log cabin that sat in a meadow now inundated by Vogel’s 20-acre lake. His family moved less than a mile away to a farm along Wolf Creek at the edge of the Chattahoochee forest. There, as an adult, Reece eked out a living from the rocky soil by day. At night, he retreated to a drafty farm shed to write. Later, he became poet-in-residence at Young Harris College. The state Legislature proclaimed him "Georgia's Appalachian Poet/Novelist."
Plagued by depression and tuberculosis, he died in 1958 at age 40 from a self-inflected gunshot wound.
But his legacy lives on. His old farm has become a memorial to his life and a celebration of Georgia’s mountain majesty. Established by the Byron Herbert Reece Society, the 9-acre Reece Farm and Heritage Center opened to the public in early June. I visited it the other day. Strolling about its grounds, I gained a new appreciation of how Georgia’s mountain splendor could have moved such a simple farmer to write exquisite verse that will endure for generations to come.
IN THE SKY: Summer officially begins on Wednesday at 7:09 p.m -- the summer solstice. Summer‘s first day also is the longest day of the year. After Wednesday, the days start getting shorter until we reach the shortest day of the year on Dec. 21, the first day of winter.
The moon will be new on Tuesday and thus not visible for a day or so after that. But just after dark on Thursday look for a thin crescent moon low in the west, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. Mercury is low in the west just after dark and will appear near the moon on Thursday evening. Mars is high in the south just after dark and sets in the west after midnight. Jupiter is low in the east just before sunrise. Saturn is high in the east at dusk and visible throughout most of the night.
If You Go
Byron Herbert Reece Farm and Heritage Center
Includes a barn and several other farm outbuildings and implements that depict Appalachian Mountain living during Reece’s lifetime. His renovated home houses a visitors center, gift shop and several exhibits. Other exhibits are scattered about the 9-acre property. A walking trail runs along burbling Wolf Creek.
8552 Gainesville Hwy, Blairsville, GA 30514. Entrance is on Georgia 129 a mile north of Vogel State Park and about eight miles south of Blairsville.
Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission: $5 for adults; discounts available for children and seniors.
www.byronherbertreecesociety.org. 706-745-2034.
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