Category Archives: Music

It’s Suwannee River Basin song time

Update 2024-07-26: More time for your Suwannee River Basin song

Hahira, Georgia, July 22, 2024 — Songwriters, Wednesday is the last day to send in your story in song about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, pond, aquifer, or bay in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary, except not in the Santa Fe River Basin.

Send your song by midnight Wednesday –Sweet William Billy Ennis

WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “Musicians, you can finish up that song you’ve been tinkering with, and send it in.”

Here’s the entry form:
https://forms.gle/ett6ne6DxMc8Ln897

“So sharpen your pencils and submit your song, to www.wwals.net. See you there!” said Sweet William Billy Ennis, the 2021 winner and 2022 headliner,
https://youtu.be/GGns39nI6-o

The finals will be held Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the WWALS River Revue, Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta, Georgia. The audience will listen, while three judges decide who wins in several categories.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, Continue reading →

Pictures: Florida Folk Festival Saturday 2024-05-25

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

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 →

Pictures: Florida Folk Festival Sunday 2024-05-26

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

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 →

Three judges for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting

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.

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)

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 →

Florida Folk Festival Friday 2024-05-24

Update 2024-05-26: Pictures: Florida Folk Festival Saturday 2024-05-25.

Gretchen Quarterman took a few pictures Friday at the Florida Folk Festival.

WWALS Booth at, Florida Folk Festival 2024-04-24, Come down to White Springs, FL, Saturday and Sunday

Come on down Saturday and Sunday to the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park on the Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida. Continue reading →

WWALS at Florida Folk Festival, White Springs, FL, 2024-05-24-26

Update 2024-05-25: Florida Folk Festival Friday 2024-05-24.

WWALS will be back again with a booth at the Florida Folk Festival on Memorial Day Weekend in White Springs at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park.

The festival is a three-day celebration of the music, dance, stories, crafts and food that make Florida unique.

Come talk to us about Right to Clean Water, BMAPs, opposing a strip mine permit too near the Okefenokee Swamp, sewage, trash, and other advocacy as well as outings and water trails.

And of course our own WWALS River Revue, coming up Saturday, September 7, 2024, including the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2024/

When: 6:30 PM, Friday, May 24, 2024, through 6 PM, Sunday, May 26, 2024

Put In: Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, Florida, on the banks of the Suwannee River.

GPS: 30.332884, -82.769513

WWALS at Florida Folk Festival, Friday – Sunday, May 24-26, 2024, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center SP, White Springs, Florida

Continue reading →

Sponsors, WWALS River Revue

Hahira, Georgia, May 1, 2024 — WWALS thanks our sponsors for the WWALS River Revue fundraising dinner, including the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest: Wild Green Future, Georgia Power, and Brooksco Dairy.

WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “We thank all our sponsors so far, and we look forward to many more! Many people and businesses will be hearing from me and others in the near future.”

Our first Stream $1,000 sponsor is Brooksco Dairy, back again from last year.

Our first Big Shoals $5,000 sponsor is Georgia Power, which contributed $1,000 to keep tickets free to the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, and which has granted funds to the WWALS water quality testing program for four years running.

Our first Headwaters $10,000 sponsor is Wild Green Future, who contacted us from Live Oak, Florida, and whose grant paid for an 86lb thrust trolling motor, two Lithium-iron-phosphate 100Ah batteries, a 9.9hp Mercury outboard, and a 25hp Yamaha outboard, as well as a Husqvarna 24-inch chainsaw, and some related equipment. We have used all these things on recent chainsaw cleanups to remove deadfalls from the Withlacoochee River, and with the WWALS jon boat as a safety vessel for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle.

M.C. Chuck Roberts said, “I invite everyone to join us for the WWALS River Revue, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, 5-8 PM, Saturday, September 7, 2024. It’s an indoor fundraising dinner to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, and entertainment.”

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, Continue reading →

Send in your song for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Update 2024-03-30: Excerpt from the Rules.

Hahira, Georgia, March 29, 2024 — On April First, really, no fooling, submissions are open for the 2024 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “Musicians, don’t wait until the deadline to send in your song. Also, we could use more volunteers to help at the show and committee members to help plan it.”

The Seventh Annual Finals will be held at the WWALS River Revue, an indoor fundraising dinner to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, and entertainment. That’s 5-8 PM, Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

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.”

Song Submissions Open, No Fooling, April 1, 2024, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Finals: Turner Arts Center, Valdosta, GA

There will be plaques for each best song per genre, prizes of Continue reading →

Paddles, Chainsaws, and Okefenokee Swamp on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2024-02-01

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.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/

Chant for the Okefenokee –Jane Ross Fallon 2024-01-04

As Jane Fallon sings,

There is no right way
To do the wrong thing.

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.😏”

Lyrics

Here is Jane’s video of her Chant for the Okefenokee.
https://youtu.be/UQx9eEWbEcI Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.