Welcome to the Retreat

As Joe puts it, “Our very existence on this planet depends upon the existence of all the life around us. I can conclusively say that there certainly are ways for civilized man to coexist and cooperate with all of God’s creation.” Joe has become nationally known since he first took his message of conservation and environmentalism on the road in the late 70s. Recently, Joey Mines invited his lifelong friend, Okeefenoke Joe, to be his guest at and enjoy Retreat’s nature. Joe said “After spending several days with Joey at Retreat I’ve come to love it. It is an incredible place – full of all kinds of wonderful forest and water wildlife.” More pictures on Facebook. Watch Joe’s  latest song title “This Night of Peace” which he calls My 2011 Christmas Wish. Download Song.

Watch Joe’s story of “Swampy” the Dog song on You Tube

Hardman Knox, Manager of Retreat on West Point Lake, recently traveled a couple of miles up the road from Retreat with Joey Mines to our neighbors Buck and Rob Petry’s Liberty Hill Sporting Club.  Catch them as they enjoy a day of pheasant hunting and sporting clays with guide Tommy Woods. Pictured here Joey asks Hardman for an update on recent progress at Retreat. See Liberty Hill Video

By Ken Breland, Director of Sales and Marketing Retreat on West Point Lake

Roger Caldwell recently penned an authentic wood plank design for Retreat’s new Well House. The Knox family turned to Caldwell of Caldwell Cline Architects * Designers to create an enclosure to protect the new irrigation well. Caldwell said the exposed rafter tails, wood board and batten siding, and metal roofing architecture found in Retreat’s Design Guidelines allowed him to make the design really special. The structure will belong to Retreat on West Point Lake Property Association. Check out Roger Caldwell’s blog. More pictures on FaceBook.

Catch Joey Mines on his TV show and Ken Breland, Director of Sales and Marketing for Retreat on West Point Lake as they talk from Joey’s home in Retreat. See scenes of the trails, boat slips, and nature with in the community. View on You Tube and see New TV Commercial.

On the kind of October day that really lets you know Fall has arrived – about 50 Realtors, business people, and friends came out to enjoy a scrumptious luncheon hosted by the Knox Family, developers of Retreat, at the home of Joey and Betty Mines. Guests raved about the food from Lagrange’s best – hamburgers from Parmer Brothers Grocery, hot Dogs from Charlie Joseph’s, and Baked Potato Salad and BBQ Green Salad from Big Sam’s BBQ.  

Local Realtor Jerry Johnson commented “It’s amazing to see the Knox family moving ahead to get the community on track and doing the right thing when so many developers are backing away”. Property owner builders Sykes Smith and Neal Davis were also on hand to talk to guests about upcoming new home projects at Retreat. More pictures on FaceBook

Rather than provide a bond for the completion of the paving the Knox family made a decision to do the right thing for all the property owners and simply complete the final paving of all streets in Retreat’s Phase One. Hardman Knox and Troup County Roads Department Supervisor, Randall Wood, were on hand to supervise the installation of 1,800 tons of new paving by crews from Butch Thompson Enterprises. Butch Thompson’s public service in Cobb County is well respected. And, his firm has a great reputation for providing quality site construction services for more than 3 decades.  

Trucks will roll for two days to complete the paving.

Wow, what a beautiful day at Retreat! The early fall morning in October brought a crew of 10 professional straw installers. They descended on Retreat’s entry and by 2:00 in the afternoon they’d installed and detailed nearly 1,400 new bales of pine straw, then cleaned up and headed home. Swift Straw installs the best high quality pine straw. It is hand raked, cleaned, and baled in their own pine fields.

Retreat is looking good!

Please drop by our office on the Square and say hello to our own “HK” the Scarecrow and all the others in front of downtown businesses.  They’ll be around through the end of the month as a part of Retreat’s participation in the 2011 Scarecrow contest hosted by the Downtown LaGrange Development  Authority.  Check out all the Scarecrows at Downtown LaGrange.

Who hasn’t heard of “cooler corn”?   Yea, I confess. I never heard of it either. Turns out, Cooler Corn is pretty well known among the outdoorsy set. It’s perfect for large Retreat barbecues and way less of mess than grilling. Basically, a cooler appears, is filled with the shucked ears, then  kettles-full of boiling water are poured over the corn and the top closed. 30 minutes later the corn is perfectly cooked.

Thanks to our friend Jerry Johnson at First Realty of LaGrange for passing this along. Check out Scott DeSimon’s full blog on bon appétit. Photograph by Scott DeSimon.

Ken Breland

At the end of Fish Camp, residents Bug and Nick are enjoying a new arrival
at Joey and Betty Mines home.

The Mines’ dogs: Boykin Spaniel – Lady Bug, her friends call her “Bug”, and Cocker Spaniel – Snickers, “Nick” for short, have a new puppy mate named Cricket. Cricket is a 10 week old Boykin Spaniel Puppy, who will be keeping 8 year old Nick and 7 year old Bug on their paws. Nick is a true home body, but Cricket will be joining Bug, a recognized world class sporting dog, on Outdoors with Joey Mines. Joey says his two Boykins will enjoy plenty of field exercise and will do quite well in the house with Nick. Bug and Cricket were bred by Patricia Watts, Hollow Creek Kennel, Leesville, SC. and are direct descendants of the Champion Boykins competing in the Westminster dog show. Lady Bug, Pat, and Joey Video.