Tag Archives: Shelby Miller

Video: Virus, Full Moon, Bacteria, Okefenokee, Mayor’s Paddle, Songwriting –Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James radio 2020-12-14

On the radio Monday I announced that the Solstice Light Parade for this Saturday is canceled due to worries about the audience during the virus pandemic resurgence, so come to the December 29, 2020, Full Moon paddle instead.

Please help get the candidates in the Georgia runoff elections to help get the state of Georgia to stop the strip mine proposed far too near the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Many topics]
Many topics

Valdosta Mayor Scott James gracefully conceded the M.C. spot at the August 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest to Steve Nichols, who is also a radio host. We talked about what it will take to pull off the Mayor’s Paddle, February 6, 2020, from Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge on the Withlacoochee River.

For any paddles, it’s good to know the water is clean, so we talked about Valdosta’s sewer system progress, including how the outflow from the WWTP is clean now, and the new catch basin is good, but is it big enough? We asked listeners to report anybody seen dumping into the Withlacoochee River, and the general water quality testing situation, including in Brooks County.

Starting this weekend, WWALS volunteers will be planting the new at-water water trail signs.

Here’s a WWALS video playlist: Continue reading →

Canceled: WWALS Solstice Light Parade 2020-12-19

Due to the spike in COVID-19 cases, the Solstice Light Parade is canceled. Better safe than sorry, and we don’t want a gathering of viewers to turn into a virus vector.

Light Parade organizer Shelby Miller asks for you to please come instead to the Full Cold Moon Paddle, same location, Banks Lake Boat Ramp, on Tuesday, December 29, 2020: gather 4:45 PM, launch 4:50 PM, end 6 PM. We will paddle out to watch the sun set and the moon rise. Dress warmly.

Follow this link for details:
https://wwals.net/?p=53995

You can decorate your boat and everybody paddling can see it. But we will not be offering prizes at the Full Cold Moon Paddle and we will not be encouraging spectators on shore.

There is plenty of room at Banks Lake Boat Ramp for everyone to stay apart, and on the water everyone is always far enough apart. We will be using an infrared thermometer to check temperatures, and we will be requiring masks at the boat ramp.

[Floating living room]
Floating living room, Banks Lake Full Moon paddle 2020-10-01.

If you already paid for a ticket to the Light Parade, you can roll it over to the Full Moon Paddle or another later outing. Or, if you prefer, we will refund your money.

We are aware that this is two outings in a row canceled, after the previous Full Moon paddle was called off because of weather. That is very unfortunate.

Still, we’d rather err on the side of caution than risk spreading that disease.

More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times monthly newsletter.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Okefenokee, Light Parade, Mayor’s Paddle –Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James radio 2020-12-14

Update 2020-12-17: Videos.

Monday morning at 7AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio, about the Solstice Light Parade at Banks Lake that Saturday, the Mayor’s Paddle in early February, and how you can ask the Georgia governor to stop a strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp, and ask him to stop that wood pellet plant in Adel while you’re at it.

We’ll probably also talk about water trails, water quailty testing, and who knows what else.

[Last time, 2020-10-13]
Last time, 2020-10-13

When: 7 AM, Monday, December 14, 2020

Where: Talk 92.1 FM radio, Scott James drivetime show
http://talk921.com/

Listen: Over the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through any of several online listening services.

Event: facebook

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading →

Pictures: thirty paddlers, Halloween Blue Moon, Banks Lake 2020-10-31

Thirty people paddled on Halloween at Banks Lake. The Blue Moon declined to show. The bats mostly wouldn’t fly, but we could hear them in their trees. Everybody had a good time anyway.

The Mad Manatee, Mike Lusk, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Manager, and more importantly, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge Manager, met the Mad Hatter, a coven of witches, Beetlejuice?, a Wolf, two Power Rangers, a pirate, a fortune teller, and, scariest of all, a covey of Valdosta State University professors! They liked it so much, they threaten to hold a faculty meeting on Banks Lake.

[The Mad Manatee meets Pirate, witches, wolf, Mad Hatter, and more]
The Mad Manatee meets Pirate, witches, wolf, Mad Hatter, and more

Special thanks to Shelby Miller for organizing this paddle. Continue reading →

WWALS Boomerang and Mayor’s Paddle –Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James radio 2020-10-13

Tuesday morning at 8AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio, about the WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia into Florida and back again.

We’ll also talk about the Halloween Full Hunter’s Moon Paddle, the Floyd’s Island Okefenokee Swamp paddle in early November, the Solstice Light Parade on Banks Lake on December 19, the Mayor’s Paddle on the Withlacoochee River in February, the recent successful cleanup, and of course water quality testing.

Oh, yes: please vote Yes on Georgia constitutional Amendment 1, to dedicate state fees and taxes to their state purpose, so for example tire fees actually get used for tire amnesties, so we don’t have to drag as many tires out of our creeks and rivers.

Since the real trash problem is the companies that make it, you can help stop Nestlé from sucking up still more water from the Floridan Aquifer, depleting our rivers, springs, and wells, to make more plastic bottles that we would have to clean up out of our springs, creeks, and rivers.

[WWALS Boomerang --Suwanee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio]
WWALS Boomerang –Suwanee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio

The radio interview

When: 8 AM, Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Where: Talk 92.1 FM radio, Scott James drivetime show
http://talk921.com/

Listen: Over the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through any of several online listening services.

Event: facebook

WWALS Boomerang paddle race

On Saturday, October 24, 2020, there’s the Third Annual WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia into Florida and back.

Tickets to the WWALS Boomerang are $20 online through Ocotber 15, then $30 at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2020-tickets-118844038719?aff=efbeventtix

For much more, follow this link: wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-24–boomerang/ Continue reading →

WWALS Solstice Light Parade 2020-12-19

Update 2020-12-14: Canceled: WWALS Solstice Light Parade 2020-12-19

Deck your canoe, kayak, jon boat and the like with lights and we’ll do a short excursion out on the lake and bring it back in for fanfare and judging for this end of the year fundraising event. We will have monetary prizes for 1, 2, and 3rd places. We have a 3:00 PM start time to help with onsite boat decorations.

Marking the winter solstice and the ending of 2020 with a decorated evening lighted boat parade and contest with hot chocolate and cookies. Second annual of the first event of its kind in this area.

Please go all out with lights for your boat (glow sticks work well, or head lamp, flashlight, etc.) so other boaters can see you in the dark, and it’s a light parade! It will be very dark after sunset, with no moon, so everyone will see your lighted boats parading.

[Light Parade 2020]
Light Parade 2020
PDF

Prizes! $100 First Prize, $50 Second Prize, $50 Third Prize.

Tickets are $10 for each person entering (yes, even for WWALS members; it’s a fundraiser).
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-solstice-light-parade-tickets-124630460061
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

When: Gather 3:00 PM, launch 5:15 PM, end 7:00 PM,
Saturday, December 19, 2020

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635

GPS 31.034824, -83.096725

ARWT: Banks Lake is part of the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp

Bring: Continue reading →

Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2020-08-22

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Winners and excellent music from the judges and headliner, too, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Hahira, GA, August 24, 2020 — Everyone went away happy. The finalists got prizes, and the audience was impressed with the song each judge played, and with the headliner. The audience was impressed that one contestant, who couldn’t come due to the virus pandemic, was projected on the bandstand via zoom anyway.

[Winners*: Brian Barker* via zoom, accepting for, Scott Perkins*, Laura D'Alisera, Kathy Lou Gilman*, John S. Quarterman, Billy Ennis*, Ronni Dillon (not present)]
Winners*: Brian Barker via zoom*, accepting for him, Scott Perkins*, Laura D’Alisera, Kathy Lou Gilman*, John S. Quarterman, Sweet William Billy Ennis*, Ronni Dillon (not present)

The winners are: Continue reading →

Raffle Kayak Delivered 2020-07-15

On Sunday, July 12, 2020, at the WWALS Annual Member Meeting, Shelby Miller, until that day the newest WWALS Board member (now two more are newer), shook up the box of raffle tickets and, without looking, selected the winner: Dan Bowland, of Valdosta, GA! Shelby called Dan during that zoom meeting, and he was quite surprised.

[Delivered]
Delivered

The following Wednesday, Bobby McKenzie, no longer a Board member but still the Chair of the WWALS Outings Committee, delivered the raffle kayak to Dan. Dan seemed pretty happy that one of the five raffle tickets he got was picked as the winner.

[Dan Bowland]
Dan Bowland

Soon we will raffle off an identical Emotion Stealth 11 Sit-On-Top Kayak with Carlisle Paddle, $600.00 value. How can we do that? Well, we bought two at once to get a discount so we could. That was Bobby McKenzie’s idea.

Every raffle ticket not only gets you a chance to win a kayak, it also helps WWALS advocacy, education, programs, and events. So, thanks, Dan Bowland, for supporting WWALS!

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Banners at Banks Lake: no paddle in rain 2020-07-05

Rained out: Banks Lake Full Buck Moon Paddle last Sunday.

[Shelby Miller, banners, two attendees]
Shelby Miller, banners, two attendees

Expedition leader Shelby Miller, pictured on the left, called it off at the on-water time, because of more rain coming and chance of lightning on the Banks Lake. There’s another picture with four more people. And, other than me, Shelby, and Shirley Kokidko, that’s all that showed. Quite a few people had said they were coming, several of them reserving boats, but they all cancelled, due to intermittent rain all day.

Don’t worry; we’ll go again next full moon, which is Monday, August 3, 2020.

And meanwhile, come on down to Dowling Park Boat Ramp on the Suwannee River on Saturday July 18, 2020, for Intro to Kayak and Canoe Camping at Dowling Park River Camp, Suwannee River, 2020-07-18.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Next outings: Full Moon Banks Lake and Suwannee River Camping

Tired of being cooped up inside? Want to get out on the water? WWALS has two outings coming up with plenty of room for physical distancing.

First is an easy evening lake paddle out and back, then overnight camping with a brief upstream paddle.

[Moonrise and River Camp]
Moonrise and River Camp

Banks Lake Buck Moon Paddle 2020-07-05

Come see the sun set, the bats come out, and the moon rise over Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, Georgia, on Sunday evening, July 5, in the Banks Lake Buck Moon Paddle, If you don’t have a boat, let us know, and we can supply you one. Please be there by 7:30 PM. See previous post for more details.

Intro to Kayak and Canoe Camping at Dowling Park River Camp 2020-07-18

Experience one of the fabled River Camps on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail, in Intro to Kayak and Canoe Camping at Dowling Park River Camp. Five screened sleeping platforms! (Bring a tent if you don’t get one reserved.) Air-conditioned bathrooms with hot and cold running water and showers!

Please be at the Dowling Park Boat Ramp by Continue reading →