Visit our sister site, Arts Across Georgia,
for ALL the latest
Arts happenings!
The Rock Ranch Kicks Off “Fall
Family Fun Days” Sept. 26 With The Rock Ranch Rural Round-Up
(The First of Eight Themed
Weekends with Special Entertainment)
Weekly Fall Festivals Feature
Attractions, Crafts, Music, Food and Contests
9/7/09 The Rock
Ranch LLC, a 1,250-acre cattle ranch owned by Chick-fil-Aź Founder,
S. Truett Cathy, will kick off “Fall Family Fun Days” on Sept. 26,
2009. The Rock Ranch provides a unique blend of “agritourism”
(wholesome family entertainment in an agricultural setting). Fall
Family Fun Days at The Rock Ranch feature a wide variety of
interactive, educational and family-based events, activities and
programs for guests.
Each of the Fall Family Fun Days will feature a
special theme and events that include:
·
September 26 –The Rock Ranch Rural Round Up features the
grand opening of the “Lincoln Penny” corn maze, live music, an arm
wrestling tournament and professional lawnmower racing, among other
fun rural activities. There will be an opportunity to dunk
regional school administrators in a big vat of sweet tea (dunk tank
style). Also, this event features the Outhouse Relay Race
where guests are teamed up with media personalities, school
superintendents and Mayors from around the region to compete in a
truly rural competition. This is an entertaining celebration of all
things “country.” This date also serves as Media Day (all
members of the media and their families enter free of charge) and
Teacher Appreciation Day (all school teachers with a school ID card
enter for free with one free guest).
·
October 3 – Grandparent's Jubilee offers a fine
opportunity for intergenerational fun. Grandparents, parents
and children can all share in the old ways and the new as families
unite with the land and each other through educational displays.
Guests will enjoy lessons about obscure antique oddities to discover
what purpose they served. There will be a large model train
exhibit, a fishing rodeo, an opportunity to build craft projects
with and for grandparents, and other fun contests and games (such as
the grandma beauty contest and the intergenerational look-alike
contest). The day will also feature Bingo and oldies music in
the evening.
·
October 10 – Wagon Wheel Market Day offers fun for the
whole family with a premier shopping experience among exhibitors of
family and child-oriented, handmade crafts (for mom), excellent
concessions and great guy gadgets like the pumpkin cannon (for dad),
and a full days worth of fun attractions (for the children).
This event features live bluegrass music, a band of cowboy actors
who will rob the train and engage in gun fights, Hercules the
mechanical bull (for those brave enough), master puppeteer Peter
Hart, a Peach State Aerodrome vintage airplane aerial parade, an
antique tractor show and a photo contest. This event is Home
School Appreciation Day (all homeschoolers and their parents receive
half off the price of admission with proof of home school status).
It is also Military Family Appreciation Day and those who provide a
military ID receive half off the admission price.
·
October 17 – The Rock Ranch Hot Air Balloon Rally,
presented by Cronic Chevrolet, features many beautiful hot air
balloons that will participate in an early morning key grab, an
evening competition flight, and the Ferrell Gas “balloon glow” after
dark. Tethered rides will be available for guests in the
evening, if weather permits. The morning key grab offers
pilots a chance to win $1000.00. Guests will watch as pilots
try to fly close enough to a tall pole to reach out and grab the
prize off the top of the pole to win. There will also be a
remote control airplane competition during the day. The Moo
Cow Bikers/ Victory Junction Gang charity motorcycle ride will
originate at Great South Harley Davidson in Newnan and arrive at The
Rock Ranch in parade fashion at noon. One lucky biker will be
chosen to ride off into the sunset in the Harley Davidson Hot Air
Balloon. A special Red Hat Society tea party with a hat parade
and hat contest will also be held in the afternoon.
·
October 24 Growing Up Green, featuring Bob and Larry of
Veggie Tales will allow guests to have their photos made with the
popular Veggie Tales characters. Various booths, presentations
and demonstrations will provide information about “green” topics
such as alternative energy, recycling, composting and more.
The keynote speaker is Danny Orlando with Energy Star – EPA, who was
featured in the movie “Kilowatt ‘Ours,” seen by more than 73 million
people. A favorite activity of this event is the “Veggie 500”
where guests work in teams to build and race cars made of
vegetables. There will be an amazing birds of prey program
conducted by Dale Arrowwood of Winged Ambassadors and a phenomenal
reptile show by Jason Clark of Animal Planet. There will also
be an opportunity to participate in a photo scavenger hunt.
Special guests for this event are the Girl Scouts of America.
Discount tickets available through all Georgia Girl Scout Councils.
·
October 31 – The Rock Ranch “Not So Spooky” Halloween
Fest, in partnership with Atlanta's J93, features wholesome
Halloween Fun and popular Christian music. Guests will enjoy
pumpkin carving and painting, a costume contest and a costume
parade. Families can trick-or-treat at stations all over the
ranch and, after dark, there will be an opportunity to experience
the corn maze with no lights. The lights go out at 9 p.m. and
its flashlight time in the maze from 9 p.m. until closing.
Families will also enjoy an amazing magic show performed by a
professional magician.
·
November 7 – Pumpkin Destruction Day allows guests to
assist in the destruction of any unsold pumpkins or bring their own
to recycle through fun methods, such as the pumpkin cannon, pumpkin
bowling, the hammer smash and the lift crane (40 ft.) pumpkin drop,
among others. There will be airplane pumpkin bombers, monster trucks
crushing pumpkins (and car crushing) and a pie eating contest. The
2 monster trucks participating in this event are Bear Foot and
Savage. Owned and operated by Mac Plecker, The Extreme Team
has defeated famous competitors including Big Foot and Grave Digger.
Bear Foot has collected numerous wins throughout 2009 with great
success during the TBO Motornationals. Rides in a monster
truck will be available for $5 per person. In addition to the
trucks, guests will be entertained by a musical performance from Pan
People Steel Band, a 10-piece steel drum band. For this event,
military families that provide a military ID will receive half off
the admission price.
·
November 14 – The Rock Ranch Great Outdoor Adventure
features exciting outdoor activities and educational demonstrations.
Guests will enjoy a birds of prey program, archery, a fishing rodeo,
insect education lab, Georgia wildlife station, and a reptile show
by Jason Clark of Animal Planet. There will be a mountain bike
race, a kids' cross country run, and an opportunity to participate
in a photo scavenger hunt. Guests will get a treat as Mark
Muir puts on exhibitions with his World Champion Georgia Irish (frisbee)
Disc Dogs who have been featured in Sports Illustrated and National
Geographic. Special guests for this event are the Boy Scouts
of America. Discount tickets are available through the Flint
River Council Office. Troop and pack leaders from other councils may
contact The Rock Ranch for discount tickets.
In addition to the themed weekends, guests will
find a variety of family fun attractions that are included with
admission every weekend. Admission includes unlimited
use of:
Locomotive
Train Rides
Hay Rides
Pony Rides
Corn Cannons
The Cow Train
Family
Bicycles
Paddle Boats
Cane Pole
Fishing
The Farmland
Petting Zoo
Conestoga Wagon Inflatable
Children's
“Jolly Jump”
Children's
John Deere Gators
The Giant
Sling Shot
Slide Hill
The Corn Box
Play Area
Little Town
Horseshoes
Musical
Entertainment
Giant
Inflatable Jumping Pillow
Movies on the
giant inflatable screen
Abe Lincoln at
his authentic 1880's hand-hewn log cabin
The “Lincoln
Penny” Corn Field Maze
“The goal at The Rock Ranch is to create an opportunity for families to
spend quality time together and provide educational and entertaining
programs that create positive life memories,” said Jeff Manley, general
manager of The Rock Ranch, LLC. “Throughout the years, we've learned to blend our love of
agriculture with entertainment to keep people interested and involved in
a way of life that our grandparents knew well, but now is in danger of
being forgotten.”
The theme this year for the popular corn maze at The Rock
Ranch is The “Lincoln Penny” maze. The
image of our 16th president is carved into the corn field's
carefully arranged paths.
This year is the 200th year since Abraham Lincoln's birth,
and the 100th year since his likeness first adorned the
penny. Maze-goers will
learn of life in Lincoln's time and discover interesting history about
this great American. They
can attempt a scavenger hunt/word search to find words associated with
Lincoln throughout the maze and they'll have to determine where the
words fit into the puzzle of Lincoln's life story. As guests wind through the paths of the corn field maze, they'll
become more familiar with American history. There will even be an opportunity to meet “Honest Abe” himself at
an authentic pre-Civil War log cabin where Abe will orate popular
speeches like the Gettysburg Address.
General admission includes all activities and attractions at
The Rock Ranch and costs $14 for adults and children (children 3 and
under are free). Discount
coupons are available at participating Chick-fil-A locations through
November (while supplies last). The
Rock Ranch is open each Saturday from Sept. 26 to Nov. 14, from 10 a.m.
– 10 p.m. Guests may also choose
to contact the ranch and reserve a camp-fire picnic site for their group
during a Fall Family Fun Day. Camp-fire sites are $45 for all day and with a reserved picnic
area, groups are allowed to bring in their own food.
Families can select from thousands of pumpkins to choose the
perfect one from The Rock Ranch pumpkin patch every Saturday in October.
In 2008, nearly 12,000 guests visited The Rock Ranch over
eight Saturdays of Fall Family Fun.
For more information or directions, contact The Rock Ranch at
706-647-6374 or visit
www.TheRockRanch.com.
About The Rock Ranch
The Rock Ranch is a 1,250-acre cattle ranch owned by Chick-fil-A founder
S. Truett Cathy. Initially
intended to be a working cattle ranch dedicated to purebred Brangus
cattle operations, The Rock Ranch in 1994 opened its doors for school
and church groups, as well as for corporate events and private parties. Hours of operation are Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., between
Sept. 26 and Nov. 14. The
Rock Ranch also provides Conestoga wagon camping, corporate event
hosting and educational school field trips.
In
much the same way as Truett Cathy has made it his personal mission to
teach young people and provide them with good, quality role models, The
Rock Ranch seeks to use its setting and its amenities as a way to
reinforce many of the values and principles that are vital to the
development of character in children. For reservations or directions, contact The Rock Ranch at
706-647-6374 or
visit www.TheRockRanch.com.
