Category Archives: Festival

WWALS River Revue, September 7, 2024

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] 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 River Revue, September 7, 2024, and Jane Fallon winning First Prize, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023, as M.C. Chuck Roberts looks on]
WWALS River Revue, September 7, 2024, and Jane Fallon winning First Prize, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023, as M.C. Chuck Roberts looks on

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

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Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, Talk 92.1 FM, 2023-12-07

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]
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

Pictures: WWALS at Brooks County Skillet Fest 2023-10-21

It was a good time at the WWALS booth at the Brooks County Skillet Festival.

[Collage @ Brooks County Skillet Festival 2023-10-21]
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

Pictures: Halloween Full Moon Costume Contest, Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 2023-10-28

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]
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

WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration 2023-11-11

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]
WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration, pictures from 2022

Continue reading

Pictures: WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration 2022-11-12

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]
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

Halloween Full Moon Costume Contest, Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 2023-10-28

Update 2023-11-03: Pictures: Halloween full moon costume contest, Banks Lake Boat Ramp 2023-10-28.

Hey, Ghouls & Gals! Looking for a spooky one of a kind Halloween experience? Conjure up your best costume and come join the WWALS family friendly 1st Annual Full Moon Halloween Float costume contest fundraiser at Banks Lake in Lakeland, Ga.! (Extra points for light up and glow in the dark costumes IF you stay to paddle with us.)

When: Gather 4 PM, Costumes judged 4:30 PM, end 4:50 PM, Saturday, October 28, 2023

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Costumes at Banks Lake 2020-10-31]
Costumes at Banks Lake 2020-10-31

Continue reading

WWALS at Brooks County Skillet Fest 2023-10-21

Food and fun in a park. Maybe you’d like to help at the WWALS booth, at the Brooks County Skillet Festival.

[Fog on the Little River at Miller Bridge, WWALS Booth, Skillet Festival 2022-10-15]
Fog on the Little River at Miller Bridge, WWALS Booth, Skillet Festival 2022-10-15

When: 9 AM, Saturday, October 21, 2023

Put In: Brooks County Courthouse, 100 Screven Street, Quitman, Georgia 31643

GPS: 30.785667, -83.559660 Continue reading

Pictures: Brooks County Skillet Fest 2022-10-15

It was a fun time last year at the Brooks County Skillet Festival at the courthouse in Quitman, Georgia.

[Skillet Fest, WWALS Booth, fog on the Little River at Miller Bridga 2022-10-15]
Skillet Fest, WWALS Booth, fog on the Little River at Miller Bridga 2022-10-15

Thanks to Amy and Doug Jackson and Sara Jay Jones and everyone else who helped Gretchen Quarterman at the WWALS booth.

Skillet Fest is back this weekend, Saturday, October 21, 2023. Y’all come! Continue reading

Pictures: Hahira Honeybee Parade 2023-10-07

Thanks to Cindy Vedas for paddling the Eddyline Sandpiper raffle kayak in the Hahira Honeybee Festival parade.

Raffle tickets are $100, and the winner will be drawn when 30 are taken.

[Cindy Vedas in kayak, Paddling, Train depot, WWALS booth @ Hahira Honeybee parade 2023-10-07]
Cindy Vedas in kayak, Paddling, Train depot, WWALS booth @ Hahira Honeybee parade 2023-10-07

Thanks to WWALS booth volunteers Kimberly Tanner, Jo Ford, Rindy Kennedy, Jan Powell, Gee Edwards, Michael Bachrach, and anybody else I have neglected to name.

Thanks especially to WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman for organizing the WWALS booth.

There are more pictures below.

See also Kimberly Tanner’s facebook video of the WWALS parade float from the WWALS booth, and the Friday pictures.

 -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/

Continue reading