WWALS President Sara Squires Jones will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting.
The public is invited to this regular busineass meeting.
That’s for the
entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida,
including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps,
such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.
Robert Thatcher, from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and Tom Brown, from Dalton, Georgia, accompanied by Bob’s wife,
played their song “Roll On, Echo River”
and won
Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song
in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024.
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.”
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 →
Thanks to Amanda Rollins of Georgia Forestry Foundation for inviting WWALS to talk about forestry and water to elementary school students from Moultrie, Colquitt County, and Albany, Georgia.
At each of two sessions, there were seven groups of students, who cycled by us for 20 minutes each, as one of seven stations.
Thanks to Heather Brasell for hosting this event
twice at the Gaskins Forest Education Center.
Thanks to WWALS President Sara Squires Jones and Board member Scotti Jay Jones
for staffing the WWALS booth on July 10.
Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman did the same on June 28. Continue reading →
Pretty clean at the bottom of Vallotton Park
(33.3 cfu/100 ml), but rather dirty at the top of Drexel Park (533 cfu/100 ml), on Onemile Branch, with the site of last week’s FOG sewage spill in between;
that’s what WWALS water quality testers Sara Squires Jones and Scotti Jay found Monday.
These numbers are for the disease-causing bacteria E. coli.
The state limit is 200 colony-forming units per 100 mililiters of water (cfu/100 ml).
That 533 reading is still below the state’s 1000 limit for real alarm,
but it’s still not good.
This map shows in red the spill location on Ashley Street near La Jalisco Supermercado,
with the testing locations in blue, at North Lee Street near Mr. B’s IGA at Vallotton Park,
and at Williams Street at the east end of Drexel Park.
![[Agenda: WWALS Board Meeting, 6-8 PM, Sunday, October 20, 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-20--wwals-board/fbmany.jpg)
![[Robert Thatcher & Tom Brown, Roll On, Echo River, Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--robert-thatcher-tom-brown-roll-on-echo-river-best-bluegrass/fbmany.jpg)
![[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)
![[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)
![[Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, GA, 2024-06-28, 2024-07-10, Forestry and Water, Boys & Girls Club, Georgia Forestry Foundation]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-06-28--gfec-forestry-water/fbmany.jpg)
![[#1: 6 colonies]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-06-24--one-mile-branch-testing/downstream0625191636d.jpg)
![[Spill and testing locations]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-06-24--one-mile-branch-testing/map-narrow.jpg)