2017 Georgia Quail Invitational in Albany cancelled because of storm damage

ALBANY — The annual Quail Invitational that had been set for Jan. 26-28 in Albany has been cancelled in reaction to the new year’s storm that ravaged Albany and parts of Southwest Georgia.

“We just felt like with everybody impacted by the storms, it was something we didn’t need to do this year,” Tommy Gregors, a spokesman for the Southwest Georgia chapter of Quail Forever, said.

The hunt has been scrapped, though he said an event not involving a hunt would likely be scheduled later in the year for members. Organizers had considered postponing rather than cancelling, but with quail hunting season ending Feb. 28 the window of opportunity was narrow, especially given the uncertainty of the recovery time from the storms.

The city of Albany reported Tuesday night that more than 85 percent of power, which had been interrupted to 25,000 customers, had been restored. Twenty-seven crews were clearing streets of storm debris, with officials estimating that 34,000 cubic yards of debris that has been collected. That amount constitutes less than 5 percent of what will be collected.

“So many of our people were affected by the storm that we’d rather that everybody’s efforts go into helping with that,” Gregors said. “There are higher needs right now.”

With displaced residents packing local motels, including the Merry Acres complex where the Quail Invitational is headquartered, rooms for out-of-town participants would have been difficult.

“Merry Acres is booked up and that’s our hotel,” Gregors said. “We’re going to do some other things later on for the members.”

The Quail Invitational is planned to return in late January 2018.