Tag Archives: Dan Phillips

Hahira Honeybee Festival and Parade 2022-10-01

Thanks to the dozen WWALS volunteers who helped at the WWALS booth and in the parade at the Hahira Honeybee Festival, September 30 and October 1, 2022.

[Parade and Booth 2022-10-01]
Parade and Booth 2022-10-01

That’s Scotti Jay in the truck and Sara Jay on the raffle kayak in the parade. Continue reading →

Pictures: Juneteenth @ Reed Bingham State Park Lake with Macedonia Community Foundation 2021-06-19

Fannie Gibbs of Macedonia Community Foundation invited WWALS to their Juneteenth celebration at Reed Bingham State Park Lake. So we took boats and volunteers and got people in boats on the lake.

Including Fannie, in a boat, with a paddle, in the rain!

[Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Lake with Macedonia Community Foundation and Suwannee Riverkeeper]
Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Lake with Macedonia Community Foundation and Suwannee Riverkeeper

Thanks especially to Fannie Gibbs for inviting WWALS. We will keep writing joint grant proposals until we get some funded for boating and swimming lessons, historical research, and paddle outings designed around African-American waterway history. Meanwhile, we will keep doing things like this anyway. Continue reading →

Water Trail signs planted 2021-05-21

Bobby McKenzie has been busy planting water trail signs, both road signs and at-water signs. All these signs were paid for by a grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR). There was a cash match, so if you want to help with that, you can:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwalswatertrailsigns

[Kinard Bridge Road, Adel-Moultrie, andAntioch Road Landings, Cook County Boat Ramp, Folsom Bridge, Hagan Bridge, and Pafford's Landings]
Kinard Bridge Road, Adel-Moultrie, andAntioch Road Landings, Cook County Boat Ramp, Folsom Bridge, Hagan Bridge, and Pafford’s Landings

Little River

Kinard Bridge Road Landing

We bought road signs from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). GDOT is planting road signs on state and federal highways, but WWALS has to put them on county roads, like Kinard Bridge Road. There are two sets of road signs for each location, for each direction. In this case, for Kinard Bridge Road Landig, the most upstream landing on the Little River in the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). Continue reading →

Water Trail signs planted for Reed Bingham State Park 2021-04-16

WWALS Trails Committee Chair Dan Phillips planted the signs for Reed Bingham State Park Thursday, both the road signs for Red Roberts Landing, and the at-water signs for there and for the boat ramps on both sides of RBSP Lake.

[Red Roberts Landing, Reed Bingham State Park Lake]
Red Roberts Landing, Reed Bingham State Park Lake

Red Roberts Landing is where the BIG Little River Paddle Race will start this Saturday morning. Tickets are going fast, and are only available online, so get your tickets now. Continue reading →

The rest of the at-water signs, Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail 2021-04-02

In time for Dan Phillips and the Trails Committee to install before the BIG Little River Paddle Race on Saturday, April 24, 2021, we have the last of the at-water signs for the WWALS water trails.

[A dozen locations, Little and Withlacoochee Rivers]
A dozen locations, Little and Withlacoochee Rivers

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman picked these up from Session Signs Company the other day. We paid for them back in October. These are the last items purchased using the GA-DNR Educational Recreational Trails Program grant.

To see what’s on them, follow this link: https://wwals.net/?p=54243.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Signs planted near water on Alapaha River Water Trail 2021-01-16

Dan and Dylan Phillips planted posts and later went back and put signs on them for three locations on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

[Berrien Beach, Lakeland, Burnt Church, ARWT]
Berrien Beach, Lakeland, Burnt Church, ARWT

They plan to finish planting all of the ARWT at-water signs in Georgia soon. Just in Georgia, because these signs, posts, and related brochures were mostly paid for by a generous grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR). We also thank the counties of Berrien, Atkinson, Lanier, Lowndes, and Echols for their support for the ARWT, either through a resolution in support of the ARWT, or through permission to plant signs.

All of these locations have the same top sign for the entire Alapaha River Water Trail: Continue reading →

Gate into Naylor Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ US 84 2020-12-16

Thanks to WWALS member Tasha Ekman Laface for following up a report of a gate at Naylor Boat Ramp. It’s there all right, but it’s open, just as Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) said it always is.

[Left, 2020:12:16 17:38:54, 30.9243556, -83.0384444]
Left, 2020:12:16 17:38:54, 30.9243556, -83.0384444

That’s Naylor Boat Ramp, 6955 US 84 E, Naylor, GA 31641, in Lowndes County, Georgia, on the Alapaha River, 57.3 river miles upstream from its Confluence with the Suwannee River.

Here’s WWALS Trails Committee Chair Dan Phillips planting the ARWT at-water signs beside Naylor Boat Ramp last summer: Continue reading →

WWALS kayak raffle drawing 2020-12-12

And the winner of the WWALS kayak raffle for an Emotion Stealth 11 Sit-On-Top Kayak with Carlisle Paddle, $600.00 value is…

[Drawing, Reaction, Calling, Winner]
Drawing, Reaction, Calling, Winner

Wenda Gaile Bailey of Nashville, Georgia!

Dylan Phillips of Hahira drew the winning ticket, surprising WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, and WWALS board member Dan Phillips delivered the kayak. Continue reading →

Pictures: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp Cleanup 2020-09-12

Nine people collected 304 pounds of trash at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County, Georgia, and at Berrien Beach in Lanier County, downstream across the river.

[Boat Ramp, Berrien Beach, bags of trash, bottles]
Boat Ramp, Berrien Beach, bags of trash, bottles

We got a picture with banners early before anybody left, and more later, with the trash and the beautiful Alapaha River. See also the real trash problem, the companies that make it.

[Before]
Before
Photo: John S. Quarterman, L-r: Dan Phillips, Dylan Phillips, Bret Wagenhorst, Bobby McKenzie, Shirley Kokidko, Cindy Leighton, Becky Garber, Donald Roberson.

WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst handed out t-shirts from the Georgia statewide Rivers Alive program, from our last cleanup near this location, Continue reading →

WWALS Boomerang 2020-10-24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, GA, September 4, 2020 — For the third year, people will paddle down the Withlacoochee River from Georgia three miles into Florida, and back upstream, in the WWALS Boomerang! Canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards are welcome to register starting at 9 AM, Saturday, October 24, 2020, with the race to begin at 11 AM. There will be prizes, and food, and drink. “There will be plenty of water, no deadfalls, and probably some shoals to make it more interesting,” said Boomerang mastermind and WWALS Outings Chair Bobby McKenzie.

[WWALS Boomerang 2020]
WWALS Boomerang 2020
PDF

Tickets are on sale now, $20 online until October 15, then $30 at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2020-tickets-118844038719

State Line Boat Ramp is at 6461 Madison Highway, Valdosta, GA 31601. Heading south down I-75, take Exit 11, turn west, and keep going until you see the boat ramp sign, then turn right. From Madison, Florida, head up CR 150 until you cross the river, make a U-turn, and head down to the ramp. “That’s the WWALS road sign for State Line Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail,” said WWALS Trails Committee Chair Dan Phillips. “And down by the boat ramp we have two informational signs: what to see downstream and up, safety, etiquette, etc.”

The course starts in Lowndes County, Georgia, and goes through Brooks County, GA, and Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida.

“Thanks to the many sponsors Bobby has rustled up: Continue reading →