The 127-acre wildlife center just upstream from Sandy Springs started in 1976 with almost no staff, a polluted river, and neighbors who thought the founders were opening a nudist colony. Five decades later, the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell receives more than 800 injured animals a year, runs Camp Kingfisher for thousands of kids each summer, and donates fresh produce from its Unity Garden to local food banks.

The center celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party on June 24 and a free community day on June 28. But the milestone is more than a single weekend. A nearly $10 million capital campaign has wrapped, and summer programming is in full swing for Sandy Springs families who share the Chattahoochee River corridor with the center.

A scrappy start on the river

Dotty Etris, one of the center's first employees, cut a cake at the anniversary celebration and recalled the early days in a WABE report published July 16.

"It was probably the worst job offer anyone could ever get," Etris said.

She gave co-founders Roy Wood and John Forbes six months to prove the venture could survive. Etris started as a receptionist, became secretary, then handled accounting and payroll, and eventually rose to director of operations. In 1976, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area did not exist, and the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper would not be established for almost another 20 years. The center's annual Possum Trot race, launched in 1978, wasn't about community spirit. It was about making payroll.

Marsha Hammin, who worked at CNC from 1989 to 1999 as a naturalist and in the wildlife clinic, said she would have worked there "whether they paid me or not." Lauren Galluzzo, a Georgia State University graduate who scheduled school programs for roughly 250,000 kids a year, later parlayed her CNC experience into a position at Zoo Atlanta.

What $10 million built

Helen Brose, communications manager at CNC, said the capital campaign funded modernized buildings, improved bathrooms, new education and conference rooms, and a clearer sightline from the entrance to the trails and ponds. The center houses about 100 non-releasable animals on site, including bald eagles, beavers, opossums, and corn snakes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in June.

Regular visitor Stas Samarin, who brings his family to sit by the pond and hike the trails, called the center "an amazing local protected area" where kids can learn about animals and plants.

In May, CNC appointed nine new trustees to its board of directors as the organization prepared for its anniversary year. Natasha Rice, president and CEO, said the center has seen steady growth over five decades.

What's coming this summer

The Butterfly Encounter runs daily through Sunday, August 30, closing at 4:30 p.m. Beginner-friendly canoe trips are available on select Saturdays and Sundays through August. Camp Kingfisher, the center's environmental education day camp renamed in 1993 after the kingfisher birds common on the property, runs during summer, winter, and spring breaks.

The center is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., at 9135 Chattahoochee Nature Road, Roswell, GA 30075. Visit chattnaturecenter.org for the full events calendar.