Veronica Oakler, the new WWALS Development Director, helped all morning Saturday at Azalea Festival in Valdosta,
![[Development Director, Mayor, Raffle Kayak]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-11--azalea-festival-saturday-pictures/many.jpg)
Development Director, Mayor, Raffle Kayak
Plus Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and family posed with the Vibe Sea Ghost 130 kayak he donated, which WWALS is raffling off. The boat retails for $1,300 and comes with paddle and rudder. The Mayor says he used it only once.
It was a fine day, Continue reading
Update 2022-03-09: Pictures.
Come back to Drexel Park to help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends, at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. We will have information about our outings and advocacy (yes, including Valdosta wastewater), the new Water Trail brochures, and pictures for sale Gretchen took of our rivers, plus a kayak raffle.
Things will be a little different this year: “The Azalea Festival is a 100% all outdoor event. Patrons are encouraged to socially distance and wear masks.”
When:
10AM-6PM Saturday 13 March 2021
10AM-3:30PM Sunday 14 March 2021
Volunteer: If you are a WWALS member and you have had both vaccinations against COVID-19, we could use some help at the WWALS booth.
Where:
Drexel Park, 1401 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA, 31601
30.846771, -83.285066
That’s east across Patterson from VSU and north of Brookwood Drive.
It is on One Mile Branch, which flows into Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River,
the Suwannee River, to the Gulf of Mexico.
Drexel Park is upstream of Wainwright Drive, where
WWALS did a cleanup in November 2017,
and
Valdosta spilled 218,075 gallons of raw sewage in 2019,
as well as other years.
You can help with cleanups or water quality testing.
![[Booth, children, kayak]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-03-13--azalea-festival/many.jpg)
Booth, children, kayak
Photos: John S. Quarterman, of
WWALS at Azalea Festival 2019.
Schedule: Continue reading
“If you get people out on the river and they have a positive experience with nature, they will help protect it,” wrote Dr. Tom Potter, pictured during the March 2019 Onemile Branch Cleanup at Drexel Park during Azalea Festival.
Kara Pound, Subaru Drive, Winter 2019, 2019 Subaru Drive Community Champions,
We are thrilled to celebrate these exceptional Subaru owners who embody the Subaru Love Promise by giving their time and talent to help their communities.
![[The catch]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_143954.jpg)
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, Tom Potter at Onemile Branch Cleanup during Azalea Festival, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA, 2019-03-10.The Watershed Protector
Tom Potter, 69
Valdosta, Georgia
Vehicle: Subaru Outback
Volunteering: WWALS Watershed Coalition, which works to protect watersheds in South Georgia and North Florida“I have a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry and a lengthy background in the science of water quality — I worked as Continue reading
Due to the many health considerations of our volunteers and their families, WWALS, exercising an abundance of caution, will not send the information booth to festivals for the rest of March 2020.
This means we are cancelling our appearances at:
While we are sorry to have to do that, the risk is beyond simple infection of our booth volunteers, which would be bad enough. The novel coronavirus is airborne, causes a disease that Continue reading
Update 2020-03-13: No WWALS booth at festivals rest of March 2020 due to virus. No, we will not be at Azalea Festival.
Join WWALS to celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends, at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. We will have information about our outings and advocacy (yes, including Valdosta wastewater), and pictures for sale Gretchen took of our rivers, plus a kayak raffle.
When:
10AM-6PM Saturday 14 March 2020
10AM-5PM Sunday 15 March 2020
Free: No admission charge.
Volunteer: WWALS members can help at the table!
Where:
Drexel Park
30.846771, -83.285066
1401 N. Patterson at W. Brookwood Drive, Valdosta, GA 31601
(east across Patterson from VSU front lawn; north across Brookwood from VSU Center)
That’s on One Mile Branch, which flows into Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River,
the Suwannee, to the Gulf of Mexico.
Drexel Park is upstream of Wainwright Drive, where
WWALS did a cleanup in November 2017,
and
Valdosta spilled 218,075 gallons of raw sewage.
You can help with cleanups or water quality testing.
Event: facebook
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, of
Sara Jay, Laura Bauer, Gretchen Quarterman, at WWALS Booth, Azalea Festival, 2019
What: Visit Valdosta, Azalea Festival,
Enjoy shows, contests, food court, art & craft vendors and live entertainment. It’s a packed weekend for a great getaway excursion. And parking is free at Continue reading
It was a fine time with 30,000 friends at Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Georgia.
See also Onemile Branch Cleanup, Drexel Park, during Azalea Festival 2019-03-10.
It’s great the #Trashtag Challenge is getting people to clean up litter, but remember the straw and the sea turtle. Let’s also get on with fixing the problem, which is throwaway plastic and other discardable containers and wrappers.
It’s fun and useful to clean up a creek, like we did Sunday on Onemile Branch at Azalea Festival in Valdosta.
WWALS does this on every outing, which is also a cleanup, plus some specific cleanups, such as two at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River and one at Sheboggy on the Alapaha River last year. We find the amount of trash tends to go down, as more people catch on that we need to take care of our waters.
Yet more needs to be done. Remember last year at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the sea turtle and the straw? Continue reading
Update 2019-03-12: The #Trashtag Challenge: Cleanups are good, but throwaway plastic needs to be stopped.
Not bad for an idea from a few days before: a cleanup at Onemile Branch in Drexel Park during Azalea Festival.
Juan and Luisa from Colombia with the VSU English Language Institute waded into the stream, with Beatriz Potter holding the bucket and Tom Potter advising.
Sara Jay explained her WWALS water quality test kit.
Continue readingUpdate 2019-03-20: Pictures.
Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends, at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. We will have information about our outings and advocacy (yes, including Valdosta wastewater), and pictures for sale Gretchen took of our rivers, plus a kayak raffle.
When:
10AM-6PM Saturday 9 March 2019
10AM-5PM Sunday 10 March 2019
Volunteer: WWALS members can help at the table!
Where:
Drexel Park
30.846771, -83.285066
Patterson at W. Brookwood Drive, Valdosta, GA
(across Patterson from VSU)
That’s on One Mile Branch, which flows into Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River,
the Suwannee, to the Gulf.
Drexel Park is upstream of Wainwright Drive, where
WWALS did a cleanup in November 2017,
and
Valdosta spilled 218,075 gallons of raw sewage.
You can help with cleanups or water quality testing.
Photo: John S. Quarterman, of
Shirley Kokidko and Gretchen Quarterman at Azalea Festival 2018.
What: Our Story, Azalea Festival,
Approximately 30,000 attendees from all over the Southeast come to Valdosta to enjoy Continue reading
Come on down and look over the pictures of the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers Gretchen printed. WWALS will be at Azalea Festival again today.
Where:
Drexel Park, north of E. Brookwood Drive, between North Patterson Street and Williams Street
30.846771, -83.285066
(across Patterson from VSU)
That’s on One Mile Branch, which flows into Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River,
the Suwannee, to the Gulf.
WWALS booth: First thing you see coming in the main entrance from Slater Street. Continue reading
![[A new challenge.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/53109624_309787839740111_3782262578527659154_n.jpg)
![[Scotti downstream]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_142143.jpg)
![[Beatriz assisting]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_144703.jpg)
![[Sara explaining]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_142225.jpg)