Labor Day recalls tough summer on Lanier

GAINESVILLE - It has been a tough summer for Gainesville vacationers this year with $4 a gallon gas prices and Lake Lanier at exceptional drought level, but one family made the best of the last summer holiday of the year at Clarks Bridge Park on the lake.

Gainesville construction worker Steve Evans and his family celebrated their son, Mike's, ninth birthday with a Labor Day cookout.

"It was pretty tough," Evans said. "We didn't get to come to the lake too much because of the gas prices and the lake being down. The only time we really come is when the kids have birthday parties, and we like to come to the lake and let the kids have a good time."

Labor Day boaters on Lake Lanier appeared to be out in force at Clarks Bridge, where one boat ramp was open. Randall Logan went fishing and was optimistic about the lake's condition with recent rains.

"The lake levels were up a lot better than they were, thank God," Logan said. "It was going down so much it was getting hard to put in and out of the boat ramp."

Logan hopes Lake Lanier will get more tropical storm rain without any severe storm damage to raise the lake level, and bring more boaters and fishermen back onto the water.

Lake Lanier surged more than 2 feet after remnants of Tropical Storm Faye dumped its rain last week, but forecasters are warning that north Georgia still needs months of above average rains to bust the drought.