If Athens, Texas, hosted the Olympic Games instead of its Grecian namesake, we would see an entirely different lineup of sports. Unlike the international competition, the games in the northeast Texas community can involve genuine amateurs like you and me.
First up in the competition is catch-and-release fishing at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center. Before the contestants can drown a worm they will be required to take a tour of the more than 300,000 gallons of fish tanks at the nature center to see how the wet ecosystems work.
Once the preliminaries have been completed, it is time to move on to the 1.2-acre fishing pond for the real action. No fishing license is required here, and your rods, reels, bait, and instructions are provided at no extra charge. During the summer Olympics the ponds are stocked with catfish. For the winter games, rainbow trout fill the pond.
Registration for this event happens Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm and Sundays 1 to 4pm. Entry fee is $5.50 for adults and $3.50 for children. For more information, call 903/670-2255 or point your browser to www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/hatchery/tffc.
The television cameras won’t be crowding the view at the synchronized-swimming event. But you’ll have to bring your own swimmers to the Athens Scuba Park, or you can watch the divers emerge from the crystal clear water like sea monsters.
For many years Athens was known for the fine clay found in large quantities in the nearby hills. The clay pit the potters and brick factories dug eventually filled with water from springs and became a favorite swimming hole.
Calvin and Shannon Wilcher discovered the property and started one of the premier scuba diving certification programs in the Southwest. The spring-fed lake offers divers unusually good visibility to explore a Volkswagen van, motorcycle, and a military jet on the bottom. Clint Eastwood’s triple-decker houseboat and Ray Price’s tour bus also reside on the lake floor. Swimmers and campers can enjoy the sandy beach, shaded picnic tables, showers, and barbecue pits.
This event takes place Wednesday through Sunday from 8am to 6pm in the spring and summer and 9am to 5pm in the fall and winter. Entry fees are $15 for divers and $5 for swimmers and campers. For more information, call 903/675-5762 or go to www.athensscubapark.com.
The next event mixes the beauty of the wild kingdom with the compassion of human nature for a show that is pure poetry when executed properly. This match actually takes place east of Athens near Murchison at Cleveland Amory’s Black Beauty Ranch.
Amory is best known for writing such books as The Cat Who Came for Christmas, The Cat and the Curmudgeon, and The Best Cat Ever. In 1979, he and the Fund for Animals created a safe sanctuary for unwanted and abused animals. The population at the ranch varies, but the more than 800 residents usually include burros, horses, deer, emu, chimps, elephants, and a giraffe.
Contestants will tour the ranch to visit with the animals and then wrestle with their consciences before making a donation. The more heartfelt the donation the bigger the winner in this event. Registration happens year-round, except in August, on Saturdays between 9am and 2:45pm. For information, call 903/469-3811 or go to www.blackbeautyranch.org.
One last event remains in my fantasy Olympics: tasting as many of the 16 flavors of cheesecakes at the New York, Texas, cheesecake showroom. The family-owned bakery started in the little town of New York a few miles south of Athens in the 1980s and has since appeared on some of the finer tables around the state.
This event takes place weekdays between 9am and 5pm at the bakery; mail orders do not qualify for Olympic medals. The bakery is one block north of the Athens town square at 211 N. Palestine. For registration information, call 877/698-9222 or go to www.nytxccc.com.
Now that I have invented the Athens (Texas) Olympics there is no telling how many people will mistakenly buy airline tickets to Texas instead of Southern Europe. I’d better get started working on a list of games to be played when the Olympics head to China (Texas).
688th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
This article appears in August 20 • 2004.
