Crazy idea that made perfect sense

The sound of the rapids on the Chattahoochee between Columbus and Phenix City is drowning out the hecklers. A nice sound already, that makes it an especially sweet one.

We all know the hecklers. We know some of them by name. They’re the usual-suspect cynics who sneer at pretty much every visionary idea for improving the community, and every community has them. They crow forever after those rare occasions when they’re right, and when they’re wrong (which is almost always) it’s as if the things they were wrong about never happened.

The urban whitewater course here happened. It’s still happening, and it looks as if it will go on happening for the foreseeable future.

As reported earlier this week, this fourth season of Whitewater Express taking folks rafting down the 2.5-mile course managed by the nonprofit Uptown Whitewater Management will hit the 100,000th rafter mark.

One hundred thousand. That’s a lot of people, many of whom have come considerable distances to get here, to take a ride a lot of people (and not just the hecklers) thought was a crazy idea.

Whitewater opened to the public over the 2013 Memorial Day weekend. Whitewater Express owner Dan Gilbert said the business needed 3,000 customers the first year and would have considered 6,000 a “home run”; there were 16,000. There were 25,000-plus in 2014 and more than 30,000 last year. This year’s total will almost certainly top 35,000, which would put it well into the six-figure realm expected to be reached late next month.

An urban whitewater course here might have been a crazy idea. It might still be a crazy idea. More than 95,000 outdoor enthusiasts are evidence that it’s just crazy enough.

Family crisis

Georgia foster children are in need of homes. And according to the head of the state Department of Family and Children’s Services, only about one-third of the needed pool of foster families is available.

“We’re not failing to recruit foster parents,” DFACS Director Bobby Cagle said Tuesday in Coweta County. “We’re failing to keep foster parents.”

As reported in the Newnan Times-Herald, Cagle and other DFACS officials are touring the state as part of a “blueprint for change” recruitment effort.

The stresses of foster parenting, especially in the case of special-needs children, are a big part of the retention problem, Cagle said. Families need “respite care” — somebody to watch the children while the foster parents take a break, or even a vacation. Help with practical home tasks like meals, yard care, laundry, etc., can also make a big difference.

The ideal, Cagle told the Coweta audience, is about three potential families for each child, because not every placement is going to be a good fit.

“You don’t have to be a foster parent in order to support foster parents,” Cagle said. “We want you to think broadly about this.”

For information or to volunteer, call 1-877-210-KIDS or look on the Web at dhs.ga.gov.

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Crazy idea that made perfect sense."