June 27, 2026, was the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. To commemorate the event, the National Park Service hosted living history programs, guided hikes, and educational programs on the weekend of June 27 and 28. The Friends of Kennesaw Mountain was proud to support this special event. Photos from the weekend can be found below.
In late 1999 or early 2000, Beth Burns and Lewis Bramlett were both weekend hikers at Kennesaw Mountain. They started noticing each other on Saturday mornings and eventually struck up a conversation. Before long, they were timing their hikes in hopes of crossing paths. As they got to know one another, they went on their first date. Not long after, Lewis learned that his company was transferring him to Tampa, so their last outing together in Atlanta before his move was fittingly another hike on the mountain.
In the months that followed, they stayed in touch, and Lewis eventually asked his boss for a transfer back to Atlanta. His boss offered one memorable piece of advice: “Do not move for someone, it never works out.” Even so, Lewis returned in July 2001. By December of that same year, he and Beth were married across Old 41 from the Visitor Center at Kennesaw Mountain. The Bramletts have lived in Kennesaw since 2003 and remain frequent visitors and volunteers at the park with their sons, Andrew and Daniel. This year, they are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and “this mountain still moves them!”
Congratulations Beth and Lewis!
Friends of Kennesaw Mountain volunteers help maintain and improve the trails at the park. A monthly workday is held every 2nd Saturday. Friends also support school education trips and hikes, trail enhancements, history reenactments, community programs, and fundraising events for the park. Want to help or donate? www.friendsofkmnbp.org
This covers the regularly scheduled workday for June. We were to repair the road leading to the bridge, add GAB to the low spots between the new bridge and the old small bridge, and remove the old small bridge.
We had 9 crew leaders for the workday. The Crew Leaders were Bill, Donald, Kirsten, Lindsey, Pam, Robert, Scott, Tom, and me. We had 2 Ambassadors; they were Laurie, and Bill. They did registration and parking. We had 9 volunteers. The volunteers were a family of 5 (one of the members is part of the Allatoona JROTC unit He brought is parents, brother and aunt) 1 who was hiking by and joined, 1 that Bill and I talked to om Friday and 1 other. from the Atlanta Outdoor Club (3, Kirsten and I are part of that number or 1 volunteer).
I welcomed the volunteers, we walked to the worksite where explained the workplan, did a safety brief, talked about Crew Leader Volunteer opportunities, and issued tools.
Thanks to Ladrick for helping to remove the bridge and Michael for driving the Bobcat, placing the GAB so that it could be spread out.
The work plan only had two lines. The first was the repair of the road leading to the bridge and add GAB to the low spots on the other side of the bridge. If we had enough material, we were to also build two water bars and fill in an eroded area on the road coming down the hill to the bridge. We did not have enough GAB to address the water bars or the erosion issue on the hill.
The second line was the removal of the old small bridge. The bridge was removed and the material from the bridge was stacked so that the park could pick it up on Sunday. After some effort we were not able to remove the pilings. It was decided that the park would cut them at ground level at a later date.
Mike Collett
Trails Director
