It was fun in White Springs, Florida, at a festival of crafts, music, and dancing.
Thanks to Russ Tatum of Hamilton County for helping at the WWALS booth,
where we talked to many people and moved some stickers, hats, and an aerial Suwannee River Basin poster.
Many children played the froggy toss and got candy for each beanbag they got in the lily pad hole.
Veronica Kelly-Summers, a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,
talked about the Okefenokee Swamp, its history, significance, places to go, things to do, and what’s next,
in this largest and best-preserved freshwater wetland in the U.S.
The Swamp is the headwaters of two rivers: the St. Marys that forms the border between Georgia and Florida,
and the Suwannee, which flows through Georgia and the Florida state song.
Here is the WWALS video of Veronica’s webinar, from noon-1 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025:
https://youtu.be/pvLU8wPLsZc
The WWALS
campout at Floyd’s Island
in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp
has unfortunately been cancelled due to low water.
So you can watch Veronica’s presentation instead.
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction.
In questions and answers at the end,
Veronica elaborated on what it means
for the Okefenokee NWR to become a World Heritage Site:
more visibility, more visitors, but no additional federal funding.
Veronica Kelly-Summers is a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
over 15 years of experience in protecting natural resources and
connecting people with nature. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s
degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University with a focus on
forest recreation and wildlife habitat management. Her career with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken her to eight national
wildlife refuges from the woods and swamps of southern Illinois to
the Loess Bluffs of Iowa and Missouri, the Florida Everglades, and
she’s now stationed at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in
Georgia. She works closely with staff and partners to provide
leadership and strategic direction for the Visitor Services program
including managing visitor facilities and recreational opportunities
for camping, boating, interpretation, environmental education,
special events, outreach, hunting, fishing, managing volunteers, and
much more. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her
husband, Jacob, and their pets, a yellow lab named Charlie and a
spicy tuxedo cat named Tino.
Join us for a fascinating historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.
Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1
As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s
economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped
the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families
who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee
Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve
out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian
Removal Policy of the 1830s.
Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and
Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how
waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte
reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much,
they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2
WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface
waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in
south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee,
Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River
watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring,
and citizen activities.
Advocacy
Many other organizations already promote paddling, swimming,
fishing, birding, and other water-related activities hereabouts, as
does WWALS for fun and education. WWALS exists to assist positive
changes and to resist invasive problems, using strategies such as
environmental monitoring and tactics such as outings and events in
that advocacy.
The Suwannee River is low and shoals are exposed so lets go exploring. We’ll launch from the steps at Big Shoals Tract Launch and paddle one mile to the portage. Then we’ll walk out to the shoals and enjoy the unusual view of shoals that are usually covered with rushing water. This could be the prettiest lunch spot you’ve ever had.
When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Put In:Big Shoals Tract Launch
From White Springs, travel north on CR 135 to SE 94 Street (Godwin Bridge Road); turn right and follow road to Big Shoals, in Hamilton County, Florida.
Thanks to Sweet William Ennis of Palatka, Florida, for writing and performing his Folk song,
“Suwannee Cracker Cowboys,”
at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.
Billy also handled sound.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025
About Billy Ennis:
“Sweet William” Ennis is a singer-songwriter who has
lived in Palatka Florida for over three decades. His personally
original songs written over the span of fifty years covers multi
genres and subjects including the environment, love & war with a
heavy dose of Blues. 2019 quarter finalist in the Memphis
International Blues Challenge, 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting
Contest 1st place winner and 2018 Santa Fe River Song Contest 3rd
place winner, Sweet William is very active in the Florida music
community and recognized for organizing volunteer music events
supporting soup kitchens, assisted living facilities and worthy fund
raisers.
A Wildlife Biologist with GA-DNR, Samuel Holst,
talked about the bats of Georgia, including in Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.
Plus some of our rare small mammals that are found around the Okefenokee.
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction,
with questions and answers at the end.
Including where to put your bat house.
He sent some papers about that, and how to make a bat house, how to attract bats, how to identify bats, their importance in agriculture, and how to keep them out of your house:
https://wwals.net/pictures/bat-papers
The two judges awarded Joe First the First Prize!
In addition to a plaque, organizing committee chair Sara Squires Jones handed him a $300 check.
Thanks to Joe First of Dowling Park, Florida, for writing the song, and to Joe on accordion,
Martin Sensiper on guitar, and John White on percussion for playing it,
at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.
Joe was the last Finalist to arrive, yet won First Prize.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025
About Joe First:
I earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The University of Florida.and then
taught K-5 Elementary Music for 10 years in Alachua County, FL and 20 years in Pinellas
County, FL I retired in 2007 and moved to Nashville, TN for 18 years. I returned to north
Florida in 2023 and reside in the Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park, FL. I play a lot
with the Song Farmers of the Suwannee and The Suwannee Bluegrass Association and play
my singer-songwriter material in Tallahassee, Nashville, and Switzerland.
I was visiting friends who had a house right on the Santa Fe River and did a lot
of kayaking there. At one point, looking at a map, I envisioned a trip through the river
connections all the way to the Gulf and, instead of taking the trip, I made up a song
about my sort of dream.
The two judges awarded Saylor Dollar Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin.
In addition to a plaque,
the organizing committee chair Sara Squires Jones handed them a $50 check.
Thanks to Dale Dollar and Lisa Saylor Dollar of Tallahassee, Florida, for writing the song, and to Saylor Dollar for playing it,
at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025
About Saylor Dollar:
Saylor Dollar is a husband-and-wife duo hailing from Tallahassee,
Florida, comprised of lifelong musicians Lisa and Dale Dollar. They
are known for their original songs and eclectic Americana sound
infused with elements of bluegrass, folk, and blues.
Lisa Dollar, a music teacher by profession, boasts a degree in music
education and has performed with professional orchestras and as a
freelance violinist. Dale Dollar, a guitarist, also studied guitar
at Florida State University, has taught private guitar lessons, and
played in local bands for many years.
Their music has been praised for its “pristine production,
extraordinary writing and performing,” according to indiestrong.com.
Reviewers have praised their “sassy angelic vocals, flawless guitar
chops, and fiddle that hits right on the mark.” Saylor Dollar’s
original songs are noted for their introspective and poetic
lyricism, drawing inspiration from Appalachian storytelling and
love. Their song catalog is available on all streaming platforms.
Dale on guitar and Lisa on fiddle were assisted by Bradley Waldron on bass.
Our song, Suwannee, was inspired when we spent time along the
Suwannee River during our first visit to perform at the Florida Folk
Festival this year. We loved the beauty of the river and wanted to
learn more about its history. We read about the Timucuan legend that
said the Moon of the Suwannee infused the earth with all the colors
of the rainbow; then the Sun drew out the colors by putting them
into flowers that bloomed along the Suwannee. We used that in the
first verse of the song. We were intrigued by the meaning of the
name “Suwannee”. We used some of the possible origins of the name:
“Echo River” and “Crooked Black Water” in the lyrics of the song. We
also learned that the Suwannee is a rare wild and free-flowing
river, so we made sure to write that in the chorus of the song. Dale
and Lisa played all the instruments on the recording of their song,
Suwannee. Dale played guitar and banjo; and in addition to singing,
Lisa played fiddle and string bass.
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![[Explore Big Shoals, Suwannee River, Day Paddle, 2025-11-05]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-05--explore-big-shoals/fbmany.jpg)
![[Sweet William Ennis, Palatka, FL, with a Folk song, 2025-09-06, Suwannee Cracker Cowboys, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-06--songwriting-billy-ennis/fbmany.jpg)
![[Video: Bats of Georgia, Samuel Holst, GA-DNR, a WWALS Webinar, August 21, 2025]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-08-21--bats-of-georgia-wwals-webinar-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Joe First, Dowling Park, FL, with an Americana song 2025-09-06, Beautiful Florida Day: First Prize, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-06--songwriting-joe-first/fbmany.jpg)
![[Saylor Dollar, Tallahassee, FL, a Bluegrass song, Suwannee, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-06--songwriting-saylor-dollar/fbmany.jpg)