“One Walker” showcases Chickamauga
One Walker is a Walker County Chamber of Commerce program that brings leaders of local businesses and governments together to share a meal while highlighting one of the county’s four municipalities.
Chickamauga was the featured city during the quarterly meeting held June 20 in the chapel on the grounds of that town’s historic Gordon Lee Mansion.
City Councilman Lee Miller offered a brief overview of Chickamauga’s past, its present and its vision for the future.
School Superintendent Melody Day described two ongoing projects: a total renovation of the existing middle school and construction of a replacement for Gordon Lee High School — one that replicates the building that has served students for more than 80 years.
County Commissioner Shannon Whitfield then recapped some of the high — and low — points of his first six months in office.
Miller described how Chickamauga, a farming community with a population of 95 when founded in 1891, is today home to about 3,100 and “we’re now a four red-light town.”
Not only has the town added traffic control devices, Miller noted there now are 15 restaurants within the city limits, a medical clinic and a core of commercial businesses.
Chickamauga is more than a quiet bedroom community, he said. The town celebrates several annual events: Down Home Days, the Blue & Gray Barbeque, has a Pumpkin