SHORELINES

Water Whys What ties a pair of water-skiing champions to an award-winning chef and a group of lake children, adults and their families. Rob McDaniel, who grew up on Smith residents who monitor the waters on which Lake, is the award-winning executive chef at they live and play? SpringHouse Restaurant at Russell Lands on Passion. Dedication. Hard work. Focus. Lake Martin. The chance to run a restaurant Attention to detail. Those common threads at a dream location was too good to pass up weave together a rich tapestry of stories about for the lifelong lake enthusiast. Now, he brings some special lake lovers in this issue locally grown rustic, yet elegant, food to of Shorelines. customers in a rustic, yet elegant, setting. Leah Rawls Atkins became a world People such as Patsy Wideman on Lake champion water skier at the age of 18. Her Mitchell and Don Dudley on Lake Jordan are athletic career soon gave way to raising a testing the waters at those lakes. They monitor family and an academic career as a prominent the water monthly, working with Alabama professor and historian. She and her husband, Water Watch. That Auburn-based group trains George, have owned a home on Lake Martin water monitors for Alabama rivers and lakes since 1964. Atkins has taught countless people and tracks their data to help ensure clean water how to water ski, and in her younger years for generations to come. entertained crowds at the lake with ski shows. Joe Ray didn't discover his passion for Their stories inspire. They show how the good work of a single person can affect so water skiing until after a car accident when many. They offer a legacy for others not just to he was 20 left him paralyzed from the waist admire, but to emulate. down. When Ray went to Camp ASCCA on Also in this issue, we continue our series on Lake Martin, he met the founder of Adaptive Alabama Power parks with a story about Lake Aquatics, which teaches water sports to the Harris' Flat Rock Park, carved from a seam of disabled, and learned to water ski. Now, granite that runs from the lake all the way to Ray is a world-champion water skier and the Stone Mountain, Ga. executive director of Adaptive Aquatics, which is based at Lay Lake and brings joy to many Enjoy! — Bob Blalock Left: Photo by Nik L ayman — Jamil Gilleylen and daughter Jaelyn Gilleylen swim in Lake Martin during Spina Bifida Camp at Children's Harbor. 1 S hor el i ne s | 2013 Vol:3 S hor el i ne s | 2013 Vol:3 1

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