Tag Archives: Scotti Jay

Committee meeting: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-02-10

Singing Cedar Key in the summer? How many songs can you name about the Suwannee River, or the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little (which one?), Grand Bay, Banks Lake, the Okefenokee Swamp, Suwannacoochee Spring, Manatee Springs, or the Dead River Sink? Most people know only one song for all of that. Come on, songwriters, let’s hear more! WWALS members, come help organize the first Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest!

Update 2018-02-03: And you can join us afterwards for 5 Holes Cleanup and Site Exploration, at the Suwannee River but by land.

Sheet music cover of “Way Down Upon the Swanee River”. 1935. Color photoprint. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 1 Feb. 2018.

The WWALS Songwriting Contest Committee held its first meeting Sunday, January 28, 2018 at Crossroads Market & Grill in Hamilton County, Florida, with Eileen Box (Chair), Scotti Jay, Sara Squires, and John S. Quarterman. Numerous logistics were discussed, from submission format and content to venue: so far the leading contender is Cedar Key, in Levy County on the Gulf of Mexico.

When: 1PM, Saturday, February 10, 2018

Where: Crossroads Market & Grill, Inc., 5463 State Rd 6 West, Jasper, FL 32052

What: WWALS Songwriting Committee meeting to plan the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Event: facebook, meetup Continue reading →

Manatee Springs to Fowlers Bluff, Suwannee River, 2018-02-24

The manatees come in from the cold in February, to Manatee Springs; we’ll paddle from there 8.3 miles down the very wide Suwannee River to Fowlers Bluff, where we plan a water quality testing demo and possibly an oyster roast.

When: 9 AM, Saturday, February 24, 2018

Put In: Manatee Springs State Park, 11650 NW 115 St, Chiefland, FL 32626

Directions: at the end of S.R. 320, off U.S. 98, six miles west of Chiefland.

GPS: 29.4894572,-82.9769455

Take Out: Fowlers Bluff Ramp, 15597 NW 46th Lane, Chiefland, FL 32626. 29.396410, -83.026030

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Photo: Scotti Jay

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PR: Florida man wins Suwannee Riverkeeper kayak raffle drawing at Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, December 13, 2017 — People got kayak raffle tickets for three months at festivals from Alapaha, Georgia to Live Oak, Florida, and online, until the drawing at a Suwannee Riverkeeper outing Sunday at the top of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp. The lucky winner of a kayak donated by Malibu Kayaks is Chris Newton from the Atlantic coast of Florida. “No way!” he said.

At Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, Georgia, Gretchen Quarterman, Acting Executive Director for WWALS Watershed Coalition, said:

“These are all the tickets that we sold. And these are the ones that Shirley [Kokidko, WWALS board member] sold. These are the ones that came from Phil [Hubbard, WWALS board member of Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia]. These are the ones that came from Hulaween [Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida]. These are the ones that came from Skillet Fest [Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, suggested by WWALS member John Horton of Quitman and Suwannee, Dixie County, Florida] ….”

WWALS board member Shirley Kokidko of Pearson, Atkinson County, Georgia, had the video camera at Continue reading →

One Mile Branch Cleanup 2017-11-11

Good turnout for the One Mile Branch Cleanup at VSU, including the new Valdosta Utilities Director, Darryl Muse, and his wife. Thanks Scotti Jay for organizing this outing, including bringing a cart for the materials and going back with a pickup truck to collect the bags of trash.

There were waterfalls just like Scotti said, Tom Potter fished a lawn chair out of the creek, we celebrated Armistice Day, we took some pictures with the Suwannee Riverkeeper banner, and we heard a word from Valdosta’s Utilities Director, all in addition to picking up a lot of trash for two hours on a cold windy November day.

Continue reading →

Hulaween Friday

Fun and informative, thanks to Scotti Jay and Sara Squires, camping at Hulaween all weekend, and sailing the raffle kayak on Lake Ave.

Day: Continue reading →

Hulaween Setup 2017-10-25

Most popular question (after what does Suwannee Riverkeeper do): what about Valdosta wastewater? Hulaween hadn’t even started yet, when yesterday afternoon we already signed up one volunteer for the forthcoming WWALS water quality monitoring program.

I also already sold a kayak raffle ticket yesterday. Thanks again to Continue reading →

Pictures: WWALS @ South Georgia Pride 2017-09-16

Fun was had by all at the WWALS booth at South Georgia Pride, in Saunders Park, Valdosta, Georgia, September 16, 2017. Plus we saw the remains of an artesian spring. Here are pictures plus a google map.

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One Mile Branch Cleanup, Valdosta, GA 2017-11-11

Update 2017-10-29: Meet at VSU CORE.

A first for WWALS: an urban cleanup! One Mile Branch runs right through the heart of the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin (Valdosta) and through the biggest educational institution in the Basin (Valdosta State University). It has some trash, and you can help WWALS come get it!

When: 10AM, Saturday, November 11, 2017

Where: One Mile Branch, through the heart of Valdosta and VSU.

Meet: VSU CORE, 1300 Sustella Ave., Valdosta, GA 31698
(This is a WWALS event; we’re just meeting in CORE’s parking lot.)

Event: facebook, meetup.

Map: Brookdale Drive and VSU parking lot