Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends, at the WWALS booth at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Georgia, all day this Saturday and Sunday in Drexel Park.
Come talk to us about our outings and advocacy (yes, including Valdosta trash and sewage), our Water Trails, the pictures for sale Gretchen took of our rivers, notecards, stickers, hats, t-shirts, plus a kayak raffle. Continue reading
Update 2024-06-23: Pictures: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park 2024-06-22.
Hahira, GA, June 7, 2024 — “WWALS will 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 celebration of Juneteenth.
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.
When: 11 AM – 3 PM, Saturday, June 22, 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.
![[Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-06-22--juneteenth/fbmany.jpg)
Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021
Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about chainsaw cleanups, the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Ichetucknee Springs and River, and the 2024 WWALS River Revue coming up this September.
![[Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-01--spotlight-show-talk92.1-radio/igmany.jpg)
Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024
https://www.facebook.com/events/792834679536648/
-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/
As Jane Fallon sings,
There is no right way
To do the wrong thing.
![[Movie: Chant for the Okefenokee --Jane Ross Fallon (8.5M)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-01-04--jane-fallon-chant-okefenokee/Chant-For-The-Okefenokee.jpg)
Movie: Chant for the Okefenokee –Jane Ross Fallon
You can help stop a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp for titanium dioxide for white paint:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining
Georgians, ask
your statehouse delegation to
pass HB 71 to stop further such mines on Trail Ridge east of the Swamp.
https://protectgeorgia.org/okefenokee/#/366/
Floridians, ask your friends and relatives in Georgia to do this, and ask the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to ask the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to deny the permits for this single point source of pollution upstream of Florida.
Jane Ross Fallon wrote, “I recently won the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. The contest video of my performance did not turn out, and it was suggested I film one myself. John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper, sent me a banner to use. So I made a video with my cell in my house. I didn’t think the sonic quality of the phone was adequate, so I recorded the song on my computer, overdubbing the video. Never done that before. Then I decided, it’s not about me, it’s about the song and its purpose. So I made a more elaborate presentation. Let me know if it works.😏”
Here is
Jane’s video of her Chant for the Okefenokee.
https://youtu.be/UQx9eEWbEcI Continue reading
Hahira, Georgia, January 9, 2024 — Save the
date for the second annual WWALS River Revue. This indoor sit-down
fundraising dinner will be held 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 7,
2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.
Tickets are $100 a person.
![[QR Code Songwriting 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--songwriting/small/qrcodesongwriting2024.jpg)
It will include the 7th Annual Suwannee
Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, with 2023’s First Prize winner
Jane Fallon as 2024 Headliner.
Chuck Roberts returns as Master of
Ceremonies.
Follow this link for sponsorship opportunities and more:
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2024/
WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “Get your song ready about the Suwannee or another river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin. We will open song submissions in the Spring.”
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.”
Organizing Committee member Arinda Kennedy said, “Maybe you’d like to join the organizing committee!”
About WWALS: Since June 2012, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity working for a healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.
Mission: WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.
Our Watershed: The 10,000-square-mile WWALS territory includes the Suwannee River from the Okefenokee Swamp to the Gulf of Mexico, plus the Suwannee River Estuary, and tributaries such as the Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers as far north as Cordele in Georgia, as well as parts of the Floridan Aquifer— the primary water source for drinking, agriculture, and industry for millions of Georgia and Florida residents.
Suwannee Riverkeeper: Since December 2016, WWALS is the WATERKEEPER® Alliance Member for the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary as Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®, which is a project and a staff position of WWALS focusing on our advocacy.
Contact: John S. Quarterman
Suwannee Riverkeeper
song@suwanneeriverkeeper.org
850-290-2350
===
Join us on The Spotlight Show on https://talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, December 7, 2023.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about upcoming outings such as this weekend’s campout at Griffis Fish Camp where naturalist C.B. Adams will tell us old-timey stories before we paddle the next day from the Okefenokee Swamp down the Suwannee River.
![[Spotlight Show on Talk 92.1 FM, C.B. Adams at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-12-07--radio-jim-halter/many.jpg)
Spotlight Show on Talk 92.1 FM, C.B. Adams at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River
Also this December we’re having a chainsaw cleanup on the Withlacoochee River in Georgia.
To begin the New Year, swim with us on Iche Nippy Dip Day on the Ichetucknee River in Florida, and then paddle down the river.
In September, join us for the second annual WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner with new songs in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 5-8 PM, Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia. Continue reading
It was a good time at the WWALS booth at the Brooks County Skillet Festival.
![[Collage @ Brooks County Skillet Festival 2023-10-21]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-10-21--brooks-county-skillet-fest-pictures/many.jpg)
Collage @ Brooks County Skillet Festival 2023-10-21
Thanks to Jan Powell, Kimberly Tanner, and her Brazilian exchange student for assisting WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman at the WWALS booth.
Quitman is on Okapilco Creek, which runs into the Withlacoochee River. The Withlacoochee, and, upstream, the Little River form the east border of Brooks County with Lowndes County.
There are more pictures below.
For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading
Update 2023-11-07: Pictures: Banks Lake Full Hunters Moon Paddle 2023-10-28 2023-10-28.
All the Ghouls & Gals won prizes, at the WWALS family friendly 1st Annual Full Moon Halloween Float costume contest fundraiser at Banks Lake in Lakeland, Ga., just before the Full Hunters Moon Paddle.
![[Participants, winners, and organizers, WWALS Halloween costume contest at Banks Lake 2023-10-28]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-10-28--halloween-full-moon-costume-contest-pictures/many.jpg)
Participants, winners, and organizers, WWALS Halloween costume contest at Banks Lake 2023-10-28
Thanks, Rindy Kennedy, for organizing!
More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.
-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
Join us at the historic railroad station in Alapaha, Georgia, near Sheboggy Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, the most upstream public landing on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail.
The schedule starts with a parade at 10:30 AM.
The star attraction is Mandy Barnett, the “torch singer with the chameleon-like chops” who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2021 by Marty Stuart and Connie Smith.
Plus food and other vendors.
WWALS members, come help at that WWALS booth!
When: 9 AM, Saturday, November 11, 2023
Put In: Alapaha Station, 245 NE Railroad Street, Alapaha, Georgia 31622
GPS: 31.38103, -83.222412
![[WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration 2022]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-11-11--alapaha-station-celebration/many.jpg)
WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration,
pictures from
2022
Last year, back at the first festival WWALS ever attended, Alapaha Station Celebration at the historic railroad station in Alapaha, Georgia, near Sheboggy Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, the most upstream public landing on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail.
![[WWALS booth and float, Town of Alapaha, raffle kayak, music @ Alapaha Station Celebration 2022-11-12]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-12--alapaha-station-pictures/many.jpg)
WWALS booth and float, Town of Alapaha, raffle kayak, music @ Alapaha Station Celebration 2022-11-12
We’ll be back this year, Saturday, November 11, 2023.
WWALS members, maybe you’d like to help at the WWALS booth? Continue reading
![[WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival 2024-03-09-10, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, Georgia. Photos: John S. Quarterman 2024-03-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-03-09--azalea-festival/fbmany.jpg)
![[WWALS River Revue, September 7, 2024, and Jane Fallon winning First Prize, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023, as M.C. Chuck Roberts looks on]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-01-09--wwals-river-revue-pr/many.jpg)