Just a few items left on the silent auction. We have set up a buy-now option.
Please take a minute and shop to support WWALS!!
https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2024/Auction
![[Buy-now sale, Silent Auction, WWALS River Revue, Remaining items]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-10--silent-auction-sale/fbmany.jpg)
Buy-now sale, Silent Auction, WWALS River Revue, Remaining items
Hahira, Georgia, September 9, 2024— the First Prize winner in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest is from Lake City, Florida, with Best from Inside the Suwannee River Basin from Adel, Georgia, and Best from Outside the Suwannee River Basin from Palatka, Florida.
Everyone listened to the two main speakers, the talks about WWALS, and the headliner at the WWALS River Revue. More about all that later.
Then the three judges listened to the five finalists of the Seventh Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and picked these winners.
![[The Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--winners-suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest/fbmany.jpg)
The Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07
Center top: Rachel Grubb of Lake City, Florida, won
Best Americana Indie-Folk Song for “Cruising Down the Suwannee”
and First Prize, with $300.
Top left:
Sweet William Ennis from Palatka, Florida, won Best Blues Song for “Catfish Stew (Suwannee River Blues),” and Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin, with $50.
Top right:
David Rodock from Adel, Georgia, won
Best Pop Country Folk Song for “Moonlight Echoes,” and Best Song from Inside the Suwannee River Basin, with $50.
Bottom left:
Robert Thatcher from Signal Mountain, Tennessee and Tom Brown from Dalton, Georgia, won
Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song for “Roll On, Echo River.”
Bottom right:
Bill Berry from Valdosta, Georgia, won
Best Americana Song for “The River.”
Here’s video of WWALS President Sara Squires Jones awarding the prizes:
https://youtu.be/5zSHNeVzOZs
Video by Doug Jipson for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
We will post videos of each performance soon. Continue reading
Cancelled due to heat and holidays. We will reschedule to a date to be determined.
Hahira, GA, August 1, 2024 — “Like we did in June, WWALS will again provide stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
WWALS will also provide boats for new paddlers at this gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, and Tift Counties, Georgia, and beyond in another celebration of Juneteenth, this time in August.
We’re calling it Augusteenth.
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.
When: 11 AM, Saturday, August 31, 2024
Put In: Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 Exit 39, turn west on GA 37, right on Evergreen Church Road (CR 99), left on Reed Bingham SP Road (CR 221), in through the gate and across the dam, and the beach is on your right, in Colquitt County.
Continue readingJoin us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about the WWALS River Revue with the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up in a week. Also Augusteenth: Juneteenth boating again at Reed Bingham State Park this Saturday. Plus chainsaw cleanups, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Ichetucknee Springs and River, and the water quality testing.
-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/
Cancelled: Juneteenth again in August at Reed Bingham State Park 2024-08-31.
Hahira, GA, August 1, 2024 — “Like we did in June, WWALS volunteers will again act as stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
WWALS will also provide boats for new paddlers at this gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, and Tift Counties, Georgia, and beyond in another celebration of Juneteenth, this time in August. We’re calling it Augusteenth.
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.
When: 11 AM, Saturday, August 31, 2024
Put In: Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 Exit 39, turn west on GA 37, right on Evergreen Church Road (CR 99), left on Reed Bingham SP Road (CR 221), in through the gate and across the dam, and the beach is on your right, in Colquitt County.
Continue readingThanks to everyone who boated and had fun, and to everyone who helped, at Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
![[Boating at Juneteenth, Reed Bingham SP 2024-06-22, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-06-22--juneteenth-reed-bingham-sp-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
Boating at Juneteenth, Reed Bingham SP 2024-06-22, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation
People who had never been in a boat before now have, some more than once.
Thanks to Fannie Gibbs of Macedonia Community Foundation for having the idea and bringing the food to this Juneteenth celebration.
Here are some video highlights:
https://youtu.be/bzEroP3rOrQ?si=Flvz68IPmRB6aWVw Continue reading
Update 2024-05-30: Pictures: Florida Folk Festival Sunday 2024-05-26.
People kept asking to sign the petition for a Florida Constitutional Amendment for Right to Clean Water.
![[Florida Folk Festival, Saturday 2024-05-25, Livelier. Most popular:, Right to Clean Water Petition]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-05-25--florida-folk-festival-saturday/igmany.jpg)
Florida Folk Festival, Saturday 2024-05-25, Livelier. Most popular:, Right to Clean Water Petition
We’ll have more of those petitions today, on the banks of the Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida, at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. Continue reading
The petition for a Florida Constitutional Amendment for Right to Clean Water brought many people to the WWALS Booth. They went away with a WWALS flyer, so RTCW meshes will with other WWALS activities.
![[Florida Folk Festival, Sunday 2024-05-26, Florida Petition for Right to Clean Water]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-05-26--florida-folk-festival-sunday-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
Florida Folk Festival, Sunday 2024-05-26, Florida Petition for Right to Clean Water
Sarah Younger of Sierra Club Suwannee-St. Johns Group shows how to sign the petition. We got 90 signatures on the banks of the Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida, at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park.
Florida registered voters can sign any time:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org
Each signature gets us (and all the other groups participating) closer to getting the petition through Florida Supreme Court review and onto the 2026 ballot. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t go through governor or the legislature. And once it gets on the ballot, environmental constitutional amendments tend to get approved by huge margins. Which will put it in Article I, along with other basic human rights such as freedom of speech.
Many thanks to WWALS volunteers Gee Edwards and Bird Chamberlain for helping. Continue reading
Update 2025-01-19: Pictures: WWALS at Hahira Pride 2024-06-01.
Join us Saturday afternoon in Hahira, at Music and Art on Main, this one by South Georgia Pride.
We’ll be talking about outings, advocacy, and the WWALS River Revue.
![[WWALS Booth at Pride in Hahira 2024-06-01, Music and Art on Main, South Georgia Pride]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-06-01--pride-hahira/fbmany.jpg)
WWALS Booth at Pride in Hahira 2024-06-01, Music and Art on Main, South Georgia Pride
That’s 2-7 PM, Saturday, June 1, 2024, at the City of Hahira Depot, 220 W. Main Street.
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/813295534069014/
Thanks to Rindy Kennedy for organizing our participation at this event.
This is on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. Hahira is about in the middle between Folsom Bridge on the Little River to the west and Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River to the east, around 8 miles either way.
-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/
Hahira, Georgia, May 30, 2024 — Three judges, from Berrien County, Georgia, Madison County, Florida, and Columbia County, Florida, will decide at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest Finals at the WWALS River Revue, September 7, 2024.
Judge Tony Buzzella lives in Lake City, and was raised in Miami, FL. He studied under many great teachers, and he has performed with many great musicians over the years, including Frank Hubble, Charlie “Brown” Weatherbee, Rusty Hammerstrum, Leo Villar, Carlos Guzman, and the “Our Gang” Dixieland band during the 1960s and ’70s. He has also performed with Pete Fountain, Bonnie Dawson, Freddie Palmer, Jerry Clower, Grandpa Jones, The Original Salt & Pepper Trio, The Gainesville Jazz Orchestra, Alfonso Levy, and many others.
Judge Anna Stange moved to Madison, FL, in 2019, after 25 years as a music teacher, performer, and educator in the Chicago area. Well known for her multicultural music programs, Anna performed at festivals, libraries, and community events, from Key West to Seldovia, Alaska. Her most recent album, “When Will We Ever Learn: Songs For Peace and Justice,” is a mix of folk and original songs. She currently homesteads on six acres in North Florida with her spouse, 15 chickens, and two lovable mutts.
Judge Robert Griner is a graduate of the Berrien County school system, Valdosta State University, and has a BBA degree. He worked in the banking industry for 51 years and retired as president and director of Trust Bank. His hobbies include professional drummer, licensed pilot, fishing, pheasant hunting, and scuba diving. He enjoys all outdoor activities in beautiful southern Georgia! He has a daughter, Andrea, and a grandson, Jackson. He is a member of the Jacobs Well Church in Nashville, GA.
M.C. Chuck Roberts said, “This is the most dedicated group having fun raising funds to conserve our waterways that I’ve ever been around.”
WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, Continue reading
![[Juneteenth Boating again in August, Reed Bingham SP 2024-08-31, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-31--augusteenth/fbmany.jpg)
![[WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-29--spotlight-show-talk92.1-radio/fbmany.jpg)
![[Judges, 2024-09-07, 5-8 PM, Valdosta, GA, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Anna Stange (Madison, FL), Tony Buzella, (Lake City, FL), Robert Griner (Nashville, GA)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-05-30--judges-songwriting/fbmany.jpg)