Here are videos of the first finalist to play at the 2020 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest: Kathy Lou Gilman from Kingsland, Georgia, with her song, “My Love, My Suwannee.”
The organizing committee is all ears for suggestions for headliners and judges for this year’s Contest, which will be Saturday, August 21, 2021, at the same location, Turner Center Art Park, Valdosta, Georgia. We will start accepting songs on April First: no fooling! Continue reading
On the radio Monday I announced that the Solstice Light Parade for this Saturday is canceled due to worries about the audience during the virus pandemic resurgence, so come to the December 29, 2020, Full Moon paddle instead.
Please help get the candidates in the Georgia runoff elections to help get the state of Georgia to stop the strip mine proposed far too near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Valdosta Mayor Scott James gracefully conceded the M.C. spot at the August 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest to Steve Nichols, who is also a radio host. We talked about what it will take to pull off the Mayor’s Paddle, February 6, 2020, from Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge on the Withlacoochee River.
For any paddles, it’s good to know the water is clean, so we talked about Valdosta’s sewer system progress, including how the outflow from the WWTP is clean now, and the new catch basin is good, but is it big enough? We asked listeners to report anybody seen dumping into the Withlacoochee River, and the general water quality testing situation, including in Brooks County.
Starting this weekend, WWALS volunteers will be planting the new at-water water trail signs.
Everybody loved the judges playing at the 2020 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and they really loved the headliner, Dirty Bird and the Flu.
So here is video of Dirty Bird and the Flu:
Don’t worry; video of the finalists will be up soon. And the winners. And more Dirty Bird and the Flu.
Yes, we’re preparing for the 2021 Songwriting Contest, and you can help.
Meanwhile, you can watch the entire contest up to just before the finalists in this WWALS video playlist:
Continue readingDue to the spike in COVID-19 cases, the Solstice Light Parade is canceled. Better safe than sorry, and we don’t want a gathering of viewers to turn into a virus vector.
Light Parade organizer Shelby Miller asks for you to please come instead to the Full Cold Moon Paddle, same location, Banks Lake Boat Ramp, on Tuesday, December 29, 2020: gather 4:45 PM, launch 4:50 PM, end 6 PM. We will paddle out to watch the sun set and the moon rise. Dress warmly.
Follow this link for details:
https://wwals.net/?p=53995
You can decorate your boat and everybody paddling can see it. But we will not be offering prizes at the Full Cold Moon Paddle and we will not be encouraging spectators on shore.
There is plenty of room at Banks Lake Boat Ramp for everyone to stay apart, and on the water everyone is always far enough apart. We will be using an infrared thermometer to check temperatures, and we will be requiring masks at the boat ramp.
![[Floating living room]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-31--banks-lake-halloween-blue-moon/20201031_191105.jpg)
Floating living room, Banks Lake Full Moon paddle
2020-10-01.
If you already paid for a ticket to the Light Parade, you can roll it over to the Full Moon Paddle or another later outing. Or, if you prefer, we will refund your money.
We are aware that this is two outings in a row canceled, after the previous Full Moon paddle was called off because of weather. That is very unfortunate.
Still, we’d rather err on the side of caution than risk spreading that disease.
More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times monthly newsletter.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Update 2020-12-17: Videos.
Monday morning at 7AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio, about the Solstice Light Parade at Banks Lake that Saturday, the Mayor’s Paddle in early February, and how you can ask the Georgia governor to stop a strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp, and ask him to stop that wood pellet plant in Adel while you’re at it.
We’ll probably also talk about water trails, water quailty testing, and who knows what else.
When: 7 AM, Monday, December 14, 2020
Where:
Talk 92.1 FM radio, Scott James drivetime show
http://talk921.com/
Listen: Over the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through any of several online listening services.
Event: facebook
For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading
Always fun to be on the Steve Nichols radio show, 105.9 FM WVGA, especially when he just agreed to be the Master of Ceremonies for the 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.
You can ask Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to get GA-EPD to deny permits for a titanium strip mine far too close to the Okefenokee Swamp. While you’re at it, you can ask him to deny a permit for the Adel wood pellet plant. You’ll see our water trail signs popping up along the rivers and on the roadways, and we’re distributing the brochures. Don’t forget to come to the Solstice Light Parade at Banks Lake, Saturday, December 19, 2020, and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Saturday, August 21, 2021 at the Turner Center Arts Park in Valdosta.
Here are WWALS videos.
Video. I’m the Suwannee Riverkeeper, which is a staff position, working for fishable, drinkable, swimable water. Our umbrella organization is WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc., incorporated in June 2012 as a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit charity. We have board members scattered as far as Pine Mountain, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, but mostly in the Suwannee River Basin watersheds.
Here are videos of an unusual feature of the 2020 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest: the three judges each played a song.
Stay tuned for more videos, of the 2020 headliners, finalists, awards, and more.
The annually-reconstituted WWALS Songwriting Contest Committee now has four songwriters on it, and is considering right now who to ask to be judges and headliners for the 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Send your suggestions to song@suwanneeriverkeeper.org.
Song submissions by contestants will commence in April.
Once again we thank our top-tier sponsor Georgia Beer Company, who said they would do it again in 2021.
More sponsors are welcome. It’s a good opportunity to get your name or your organization’s out there along with a fun time and a good cause.
Update 2020-12-10: video.
We’re proud to announce that Steve Nichols has accepted our invitation
to be the Master of Ceremonies at the
Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Saturday evening, August 2021, at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, GA.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting/
He and I will talk about that on his radio show at 8:30 AM Tuesday, December 8, 2020, on 105.9 FM WVGA.
We’ll also discuss the WWALS Solstice Light Parade,
Saturday, December 19, 2020, at Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2020-12-19–light-parade/
And how Georgia is all that stands between some strip miners from Alabama and the Okefenokee Swamp, and how you can help.
https://wwals.net/?p=54187
The top rated morning talk show in south Georgia, Steve Nichols offers both sides of every story from Berrien County to the Beltway, and everywhere in between.
When: 8:30 AM, Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Where:
105.9 FM WVGA
or the WVGA Live apps,
through ValdostaToday.com (link on front page),
on Alexa devices,
or you can stream in-studio video at the official Morning Drive Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheMorningDriveWithSteveNichols/
Continue reading
WWALS members already got our monthly Tannin Times newsletter via email. We’re posting this one, because its second page has many reasons to vote for clean water. Please vote for clean water on Election Day, if you have not already!
Georgians, don’t forget to vote Yes on Amendment 1.
![[Tannin Times, WWALS monthly newsletter]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-11-01--tannin-times/tannin-times.jpg)
Tannin Times, WWALS monthly newsletter
PDF
November 2020 Tannin Times
WWALS Biota November 2020: Remembering biota past
In both Mesoamerican indigenous cultures and European Christian traditions, late autumn is a time when the dead are remembered, as seen in the Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and All Souls Day in many other western countries. It seems fitting, then, as November comes in and autumn is felt across the coastal plain, that we consider biota past.
Continue readingFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, Georgia, October 29, 2020 — Everybody had a good time on a fine sunny day with the water just right. We had a few more paddlers than last year, and more vendors and sponsors, so WWALS Boomerang 2020 was a rousing success!
“The winner drove up from Tallahassee: Jackson Buttery, who finished the six-mile round trip in one hour sixteen minutes and 42 seconds. He got the $100 cash First Prize.” said Bobby McKenzie, the WWALS Boomerang mastermind.
![[Jackson Buttery winning and with First Prize]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-24--boomerang-front-videos/jackson.jpg)
Jackson Buttery winning and with First Prize
Of the racers, 10 were male and 12 were female, in 16 boats, of which 6 were tandem kayaks and 10 were solo kayaks.
The four McKenzies in one canoe (Bobby Mckenzie and his 2 young sons and 1 daughter, all from Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, in the Alapaha River watershed) did register, although they did not race, so that’s 13 male and 13 female paddlers, for 26 in all, in 17 boats.
“I would say considering the Coronavirus and the other metrics listed, the Boomerang had a stronger showing this year than last. Plus the vendors have grown and we had a fourth outfitter join us at the ramp, Madison Outdoor Adventures, along with Banks Lake Outdoors, NWXpeditions, and VSU Core. We also got more sponsors this year, adding Olympia Bend and Life Outdoors and SBMS CrossFit.”
Other winners included first, second, and third for various distances, classes (solo or tandem) and genders, as well as for upside down, backwards, and last: Continue reading
![[Kathy Lou Gilman two views]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-08-22--songwriting-facebook-videos/kmany.jpg)
![[Many topics]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-12-14--video-radio-scott-james/many.jpg)
![[Last time, 2020-10-13]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-12-14--scott-james-radio/sddefault.jpg)
![[Judges play]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-08-22--songwriting-videos/judgesplay.jpg)
![[WWALS Boomerang 2020]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-24--boomerang-front-videos/boom.jpg)
![[And they're off]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-24--boomerang-front-videos/drone-off.jpg)