Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Georgia Beer Company Sponsors Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Welcome, Georgia Beer Co.!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PDF)

Georgia Beer Company Sponsors Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Hahira, Georgia, April 22, 2019 — The first brewery in the Suwannee River Basin is the top-level sponsor of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. When the finalists compete for the judges and music lovers at The Salty Snapper on August 24, 2019, at the top of the sponsor banner will be Georgia Beer Company. This maker of brews, such as Cypress Knee – Single Hop Mosaic, understands clean water is essential to every beer. So Georgia Beer Company, as the Aria level sponsor, supports Suwannee Riverkeeper for fishable, swimmable, drinkable water.

[Sponsor package]
Photo: Sara the bartender; Left to right: Bartender, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman receiving sponsor merchandise and check from Jack “J. Ryce Martin” and Chris Jones, founders of Georgia Beer Co.

“When I was a reporter in Madison, Florida, I wrote about Valdosta sewage frequently,” said Georgia Beer Co. co-founder Chris Jones. “Unfortunately, that is still a story. We support Suwannee Riverkeeper to help stop that problem, and to clean up other things getting into our rivers.”

“I’m thrilled for this support of our water quality testing program by Georgia Beer Company,” said WWALS lead tester Sara Jay. “We can buy more testing materials and Continue reading →

Video: WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman on Charlie Walker Radio 2019-03-13

In eight minutes she talked about the BIG Little River Paddle Race, the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, on the air with Charlie Walker, KIX 99.5 Country Radio, plus Paddle Georgia, and all the other events and outings.

BIG Little River Paddle Race

“That’s our signature event,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, about the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race.

On the Air, Gretchen Quarterman

It’s our seventh year. It’s at Reed Bingham [State Park]. We paddle from Continue reading →

WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman on Charlie Walker KIX 99.5 Country Radio 2019-03-13

Update 2019-03-28: Video.

Charlie Walker came by the WWALS booth at Azalea Festival yesterday and invited Gretchen to be on his radio show, Wednesday morning.

When: 8:18 AM, Wednesday, March 11, 2019

Where: 99.5 FM, or listen online.

Event: facebook, meetup

Paddle Georgia, PR
Gretchen Quarterman at Azalea Festival, Saturday, 9 March 2019.

Gretchen will talk about outings and festivals, such as Continue reading →

Pictures: US 84 to Mayday, Alapaha River 2016-05-07

Update 2023-04-19: Videos: US 84 to Mayday, Alapaha River 2016-05-07

Waterfalls on the Alapaha River?

[Movie: Waterfall (786K), 30.87078, -83.02267]
Movie: Waterfall (786K), 30.8707800, -83.0226700

Two weeks after the WWALS outing from US 84 to Mayday, some of us who didn’t make that one paddled the same stretch. The earlier crew had smooth sailing. We had rapids and waterfalls, because the Alapaha River was feet lower on the Statenville USGS Gauge. Continue reading →

And the WWALS kayak raffle winner is…. 2018-12-09

In the middle of our Okefenokee Campout and Paddle, we stopped at Griffis Fish Camp, with the Suwannee River behind us, to pick the long awaited winner of the fall 2018 WWALS kayak raffle, who is….

Calling the winner, Drawing Raffle Ticket Winner

Sebrina Mack, of Nashville, Georgia!

Sebrina Mack wins a Sundolphin Trek 10 Kayak, contributed by WWALS board member Bret Wagenhorst at the Berrien County Harvest Festival, in Nashville, Georgia.

Raffle sign, Kayak

We thank everyone who got a raffle ticket. All the proceeds go to supporting the activities and advocacy of WWALS Watershed Coalition.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Kit to Water Quality Testing Committee Chair at WWALS Board 2018-10-21

E.D. Gretchen Quarterman delivered the first complete WWALS water quality test kit to Water Quality Testing Committee Chair Bobby McKenzie at the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting Sunday. Now we are waiting for delivery of analysis materials, which should all arrive any day. Then we will start water quality testing in Georgia.

Photo: John S. Quarterman, L-R: Gretchen Quarterman, Bobby McKenzie, Carolyn Selby (WWALS Member), Shirley Kokidko, Ronnie Thomas; on the phone: Bret Wagenhorst (in Tifton), Eileen Box (in Live Oak), Meeting
Photo: John S. Quarterman, L-R: Gretchen Quarterman, Bobby McKenzie, Carolyn Selby (WWALS Member), Shirley Kokidko, Ronnie Thomas; on the phone: Bret Wagenhorst (in Tifton), Eileen Box (in Live Oak), WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2018-10-21.

We haven’t forgotten about Florida, and we will be doing Florida training soon. We’re just starting with the biggest problem area.

Also on order is a second test kit, the rest of whose parts should finish arriving soon. WWALS paid for these first two kits out of funds from memberships.

We are applying for grants to buy more kits. Suggestions for more places to apply are welcome.

Your donations to WWALS help with this and other WWALS programs.

For much more about why we need to test, see Valdosta (and other) Wastewater.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Pictures, Hahira Honeybee Saturday 2018-10-06

Best parade ever! Saturday noon at the Hahira Honeybee Festival:

by Allison B. Freeman, Parade
Photo: Allison B. Freeman

We had quite a crew this time: Continue reading →

Pictures, Hahira Honeybee Friday 2018-10-05

Gretchen and Dave and me had a fine time Friday at the Hahira Honeybee Festival. Families really like the EnviroScape. Come on down today and see Bobby and the McKenzie clan march in the parade with Suwannee Riverkeeper!

Family, Enviroscape, Gretchen, Enviroscape
Family, Enviroscape, Gretchen Quarterman

Thanks for the donation of the EnviroScape, Continue reading →

Training, Water Quality Testing, Pictures 2018-09-16

Update 2018-10-24: First test kit complete! Now waiting for analysis equipment to arrive. For more details on recent background, see Valdosta (and other) wastewater.

Thanks to Julie Shutters of Golden Triangle R&D for coming down from Sylvester to Valdosta, GA to do Georgia Adopt-A-Stream training for WWALS.

(No, we haven’t forgotten about Florida. We’re just starting with the biggest problem area.)

Class

[Julie Shutters, Ronnie Thomas, Erica McLelland, Shirley Kokidko, Joanne A. Wardell, Gretchen Quarterman, Bobby McKenzie, John S. Quarterman (hat)]
Julie Shutters, Ronnie Thomas, Erica McLelland, Shirley Kokidko, Joanne A. Wardell, Gretchen Quarterman, Bobby McKenzie, John S. Quarterman (hat)

Continue reading →

Valdosta rainbarrels to reduce runoff

Gretchen got a rainbarrel from the City of Valdosta, I got some concrete blocks, we set the barrel on the blocks and connected it to a PVC pipe from a raingutter. In about 20 minutes of rain, the 50-gallon rainbarrel was full. We don’t even live in Valdosta, but rainbarrels are also about preventing sewage spills; read on.

City of Valdosta Stormwater Division, Raining
Photograph: John S. Quarterman at Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia.

Within an hour we had a hose hooked up and we used some of the water in transplanting trees.

Video, more pictures, and more links to materials from the city of Valdosta and the state of Georgia on a separate LAKE blog post.

Part of Valdosta’s incentive for this Stormwater Education Outreach can be inferred from Continue reading →