Rena Ann Peck’s band apparently had other gigs and did not accompany her from Atlanta. Fortunately she was helped out by Saylor Dollar, another Finalist in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Rena had never had a fiddle on her song before.

Rena is an ecologist & Executive Director of Georgia Rivers.

Rena Ann Peck, Atlanta, GA, 2025-09-06, with Saylor Dollar, Tallahassee, FL, American Folk Revival song, Okefenokee, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

She says her song is a “Rally cry for the fight to save the Okefenokee’s from mining.”

As you know, the coal miners from Alabama were bought out from their property southeast of the Okefenokee Swamp. But there is much more to do to protect the rest of the Swamp.
https://wwals.net/?p=67829

Here is Rena Ann Peck of Atlanta, Georgia, singing her song, backed by Saylor Dollar of Tallahassee, Florida:
https://youtu.be/AN1H1usl_s4

Lyrics for “Okefenokee,” by Rena Ann Peck, Michelle Malone & Jim Woodcox

A week in a canoe – only a slice you’ll see
Paddling black waters – gators eyeing me
Spanish moss up in a tupelo tree
A bald cypress on wounded knee

oh – Okefenokee, oh – Okefenokee

I was raised running barefoot on this old trail ridge
picking wild rice and fishing is how we lived
my family home is sacred, cypress paradise
sometimes when i’m alone i scream into the night

oh – Okefenokee, oh – Okefenokee

BRIDGE:
(C) If they mine for titanium
(G) they’ll steal the water from the swamp
(Dm) Oh, Oh, (Am) Georgia’s wild (G) heart

I Am I Em I Am I Em I to inst BRIDGE AH’s (Last G HEART 2 bars)

the miners want to dig away the old beach sand
where the waters held back by trail ridge dam
Muscogee trail is sacred hunting grounds
where the swamper still hollers over Indian mounds
I can hear the sand hill cranes
I can see the (G) stars

oh – Okefenokee oh – Okefenokee

This may be the last time, I dont know
This may be the last time, we do not know x2
will we let them mine the ridge
mining will destroy the swamp
x2

Rena had included chords with her lyrics. Thanks to the Turner Center for the Arts, we photocopied those from the Judge Score Book, and handed them to Saylor Dollar. Who took only a little practice to get up to speed on this song.

Music and lyrics are copyright by their authors. WWALS has rights only to use them in conjunction with this event.

Lyrics for Okefenokee, by Rena Ann Peck, Michelle Malone & Jim Woodcox

Thanks to those who came to WWALS River Revue 2025, and who participated in the silent auction. And of course to all the volunteers who helped.

Flyer: WWALS River Revue 2025

Thanks to all the sponsors!

Sponsors Poster –WWALS River Revue 2025

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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