Bill Berry, from Valdosta, Georgia, accompanied by Luke Smith,
played his song “The River”
and won Best Americana Song in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024.
Bill Berry wrote about himself,
“I’m 67, a native of Valdosta, a solo singer/ songwriter, and
play guitar. I’ve been playing and writing for about 45 years.”
Hahira, Georgia, September 9, 2024— the First Prize winner in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest is from Lake City, Florida, with Best from Inside the Suwannee River Basin from Adel, Georgia, and Best from Outside the Suwannee River Basin from Palatka, Florida.
Everyone listened to the two main speakers, the talks about WWALS,
and the headliner at the
WWALS River Revue.
More about all that later.
Then the three judges listened to the
five finalists
of the Seventh Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest,
and picked these winners.
The Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07
Center top: Rachel Grubb of Lake City, Florida, won
Best Americana Indie-Folk Song for “Cruising Down the Suwannee”
and First Prize, with $300.
Top left:
Sweet William Ennis from Palatka, Florida, won Best Blues Song for “Catfish Stew (Suwannee River Blues),” and Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin, with $50.
Top right:
David Rodock from Adel, Georgia, won
Best Pop Country Folk Song for “Moonlight Echoes,” and Best Song from Inside the Suwannee River Basin, with $50.
Bottom left:
Robert Thatcher from Signal Mountain, Tennessee and Tom Brown from Dalton, Georgia, won
Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song for “Roll On, Echo River.”
Bottom right:
Bill Berry from Valdosta, Georgia, won
Best Americana Song for “The River.”
Come take pictures, collect trash, or pull limbs out of the way. You do not have to saw. Kayaks and canoes welcome, to accompany the WWALS jon boat and 9.9 hp outboard.
Upstream half a mile are two big deadfalls we will chainsaw. Another mile up through Rountree Lake (a wide area in the Little River) is another deadfall. We will see what else we find upstream.
If there’s time, we’ll get another deadfall downstream.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, September 21, 2024
Put In:
Red Roberts Landing,
4727 Rountree Bridge Rd., Adel, GA 31620.
I-75 Exit 41, go west, turn right in front of the Horse Creek Winery to stay on Rountree Bridge Road, continue about 5 miles, turn left before the Little River.
Cancelled due to heat and holidays.
We will reschedule to a date to be determined.
Hahira, GA, August 1, 2024 — “Like we did in June,
WWALS will again provide stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
WWALS will also provide boats for new paddlers at this gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, and Tift Counties, Georgia, and beyond in another celebration of Juneteenth, this time in August.
We’re calling it Augusteenth.
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.
When: 11 AM, Saturday, August 31, 2024
Put In:Reed Bingham State Park Beach,
542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 Exit 39, turn west on GA 37, right on Evergreen Church Road (CR 99), left on Reed Bingham SP Road (CR 221), in through the gate and across the dam, and the beach is on your right, in Colquitt County.
We had Phil Royce’s jon boat with 3.5 hp outboard,
the
WWALS jon boat with 9.9 hp outboard,
and TJ Johnson in a canoe.
I think there were four or five chainsaws among us,
including the 24-inch Husqvarna 460 that the Wild Green Future Grant paid for,
along with the 9.9 hp outboard.
Plus TJ’s handsaw.
I thought we’d just skate up under the US 41 bridge to where Stillhouse Branch comes out of Valdosta Country Club, to see if there was a logjam or trash there.
But only a little more than halfway up Langdale Park to the bridge,
we found a huge oak deadfall.
Sawing passage through that took a while.
And then we could see an even bigger oak and pine deadfall.
We being Phil Royce and TJ Johnson from Live Oak, Florida, and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
Thanks to Wild Green Future for the generous grant that paid for the Husqvarna 460 24-inch chainsaw and the 9.9hp outboard motor, as well as the tires on the boat trailer. Continue reading →
Kayaks and canoes and jon boats are invited to join a jon boat and the WWALS jon boat with 9.9hp outboard seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 3 PM, Sunday, August 25, 2024
Put In:Langdale Park Boat Ramp,
3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, in Lowndes County.
Evidently nobody had been there since Hurricane Debby,
because there were several new deadfalls, most small, one big, and another huge, before we got to I-75.
Those and others could use more attention at lower water,
but kayaks can get through now.
That was our goal on this
Upstream Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup.
We put in at Troupville Boat Ramp,
went 1/3 of a mile down to the Little River Confluence,
and turned left and up the Withlacoochee River.
There was remarkably little trash.
Some locations with a few bottles or styrofoam in branches are noted in the pictures; all have GPS coordinates.
The Valdosta (US 41, North Valdosta Road) Withlacoochee River Gauge read about 120.83 feet NAVD88
at 9:00 AM when we upstream on the Withlacoochee River from the Little River Confluence, and 120.64 when we reached the I-75 Bridge at 11:39 AM.
That’s more than 2 feet below Action Stage, which is 123 feet.
The current was still plenty fast and strong to contend with.
The Hahira (GA 122) Little River Gauge was at about 139.36 feet NAVD 88 when we started moving,
and
139.56 when we took out at Troupville Boat Ramp.
That’s more than 8 feet below Action Stage, which is 148 feet.
Thanks to Wild Green Future for the generous grant that paid for the 9.9hp outboard motor and
the 24-inch Husqvarna chainsaw
that we used on this outing.
Thanks to Emily Ferrall for the
overview of the bats of Georgia. She including species likely
to occur at Banks Lake, and footage of the Douglas warehouse bats.
She mentioned the Anabat Acoustic Survey Volunteer Project. There
was discussion of the Okefenokee Swamp, in a lively question and
answer period.
Emily Ferrall is a Wildlife Biologist, in the Wildlife Resources
Division of the Wildlife Conservation Section of the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR).
She specializes in research and monitoring for nongame mammals
in Georgia and spends much of her time working with bats. Emily has
been with GA DNR since 2016. Emily earned both her Bachelor of
Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of
Georgia with an emphasis in wildlife science.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said a few words about
what WWALS does, and WWALS Board President Sara Jay Jones gave a
brief introduction, before Emily Ferrall spoke for about 45
minutes, followed by the Q&A period. Continue reading →
![[Bill Berry, The River, Best Americana Song, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--bill-berry-the-river-best-americana-song/fbmany.jpg)
![[The Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--winners-suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest/fbmany.jpg)
![[Water Protectors Meet and Greet, Sunday, 10-11 AM, 2024-09-08, Ichetucknee Springs S.P. North Entrance]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-08--water-protectors-meet-greet/456592692_874340434606782_4087561503827164546_n.jpg)
![[Chainsaw Cleanup, Little River, Rountree Lake 2024-09-21, Above Rountree Bridge, Red Roberts Landing]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-21--red-roberts-little-river-chainsaw-cleanup/fbmany.jpg)
![[Juneteenth Boating again in August, Reed Bingham SP 2024-08-31, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-31--augusteenth/fbmany.jpg)
![[Downstream Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park 2024-08-25, 2 jon boats and a canoe, Withlacoochee River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-25--jon-boat-withlacoochee-river-chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Upstream deadfalls, Langdale Park 2024-08-25, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-25--upstream-deadfalls-withlacoochee-river-chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Dual jon boat Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-08-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-25--jon-boat-withlacoochee-river-chainsaw-cleanup/fbmany.jpg)
![[Several small deadfalls, one big one 2024-08-17, Troupville upstream Withlacoochee River chainsaw cleanup]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-17--troupville-upstream-withlacoochee-chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Bats of Georgia, Emily Ferrall, GA-DNR 2024-08-15, A WWALS Webinar, Banks Lake, Douglas, GA, Okefenokee Swamp]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-15--bats-webinar-pictures/fbmany.jpg)