Tag Archives: Tim Carroll

Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2026-09-12

Hahira, Georgia, September 14, 2026 — WWALS is proud to announce the winners of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. They played Saturday evening, September 12, at the 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, on the shores of Long Pond, as part of WWALS River Revue.

[Congratulations to the Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2026-09-12, Long Pond, Lake Park, Georgia]
Congratulations to the Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2026-09-12, Long Pond, Lake Park, Georgia

The winners are:

  • Robert Thatcher, from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, Best Folk, Acoustic, for “My River Home.” He was assisted by Alice Thatcher and Tom Brown.
  • Sweet William Ennis, from Palatka, Florida, Best Rock, for “Dark Black Water.”
  • Saylor Dollar (Lisa and Dale Dollar), of Tallahassee, Florida, Best Americana, for “Ichetucknee.”
  • KC Nayfield, from Crystal River, Florida, Best Folk, for “She Cries.”
  • Tom Brown, from Dalton, Georgia, Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin, for “Suwannee, Roll on Slow.” He was assisted by Alice Thatcher and Robert Thatcher.
  • Bear and Robert (Cindy Bear and Franc Robert), of Jacksonville, Florida, First Prize, for “Mighty River.”

Last year’s First Prize winner, Joe First, was the Headliner, assisted by Barry Sager on the pan flute.

WWALS will post videos of each of the Finalists playing, and the headliner.

Thanks to all the sponsors and silent auction donors, and to all the attendees and volunteers. Continue reading →

Datacenters and water pipes, music and food: WWALS River Revue 2026-09-12

Hahira, Georgia, September 9, 2026 — Come to our new venue this year, the 4-H Camp in Lake Park, Georgia, for WWALS River Revue. It’s a sit-down dinner with speakers, with a musical headliners, six songwriting finalists, and a silent auction.

[Datacenters and water pipes, music and food, 2026-09-12, WWALS River Revue, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA]
Datacenters and water pipes, music and food, 2026-09-12, WWALS River Revue, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA

“Your ticket or sponsorship or silent auction donation helps the advocacy, education, and activities of WWALS,” said Sara Squires Jones, WWALS Treaasurer and chair of the organizing committee.

Amy Sharma, PhD, Executive Director of Science for Georgia, will speak about hyper-scale AI datacenters and what you can do about them.

Rick Davis, the chair of the dozen downstream Florida County Task Rivers Force, will speak about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin. We’ve all fought that one off for the moment, but keep a sharp eye out in case it comes back.

Headliner Joe First will play.

Six songwriting finalists will play and sing for you and the judges about the crystal clear Ichetucknee River spring water with its wild turkey and deer flowing into the Santa Fe, and about the dark blackwater of the Suwannee River, with its gators, herons, ghosts, and memories.

They are: Bear and Robert from Jacksonville, Florida, Tom Brown from Dalton, Georgia, Saylor Dollar from Tallahassee, Florida, Sweet William Ennis from Palatka, Florida, KC Nayfield from Crystal River, Florida, and Robert Thatcher from Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

Three judges will decide on prizes: Anna Stange from Madison, Florida, Tony Buzella from Lake City, Florida, and Norm McDonald from Live Oak, Florida.

“I’ll speak about advocacy, including Sabal Trail wanting a second fracked methane pipline a decade later, and how that ties into datacenters,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

The whole time you can bid on silent auction items.

The MC of all this is Tim Carroll, former trumpet player and Valdosta City Council District 5.

Read all about it here:

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026/

Special thanks to our sponsors, whom you can see listed on the flyer.

Contact: John S. Quarterman
Suwannee Riverkeeper and Executive Director
WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
850-290-2350
wwalswatershed@gmail.com
wwals.net

===

Send in your songs, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025

Hahira, Georgia, March 28, 2025 — Submissions open April 1, really, no fooling, for the 2025 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

WWALS Board Member Scotti Jay said, “It will be even more fun this year!”

The Eighth Annual Finals will be held at the WWALS River Revue, an indoor fundraising dinner, to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, speakers from Georgia and Florida, a silent auction, and the music of a headliner and of the Songwriting Contest Finalists. That’s 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 6, 2025, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Tickets are $65 each.
https://app.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2025

WWALS Membership Director Janet Martin said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.”

For how to sponsor or provide an item for the silent auction, follow the above link or the QR code, or go to wwals.net and scroll down to WWALS River Revue.

[Song Submissions Open April 1, 2025, no fooling!, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
Song Submissions Open April 1, 2025, no fooling!, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

WWALS President Sara Squires Jones said, “Musicians, don’t wait until the deadline to send in your songs. I can’t wait to hear them.”

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, “You’ll hear more later about the M.C., the speakers, and the judges.”

Continue reading →

Pictures: Two Mile Branch Berkley Drive Cleanup 2023-03-25

It went well, the joint WWALS and City of Valdosta cleanup of Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive, on March 25, 2023.

Many good things have happened since then.

However, there is still plenty the City needs to do about trash.

[Collage @ Two Mile Branch Cleanup 2023-03-25]
Collage @ Two Mile Branch Cleanup 2023-03-25

Thanks to Bobby McKenzie for leading, neighbor Jan Powell for rustling up some participants and helping at the table, to City Engineer Ben O’Dowd, City Council Tim Carroll, and Mayor Scott James Matheson for helping, along with quite a few other volunteers.

See also facebook photosets and videos by:

Some of the things the Engineer and Mayor promised have happened. Continue reading →

Valdosta promises an upgraded Watergoat; offers no plan for cleaning it out or nearby woods 2023-02-17

Update 2023-02-22: Valdosta will maintain Berkley Drive trash trap 2023-02-22.

Valdosta City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd says Valdosta has purchased an upgraded Watergoat trash trap, to be installed in approximately March.

It will go in Sugar Creek, he says, and the old one will go into Two Mile Branch below Berkley Drive.

[Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash]
Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash

That’s all good. Thanks for doing that, Engineer O’Dowd, and City of Valdosta.

But he did not mention any plan for cleaning out that new trash trap location on Two Mile Branch. Remember, Continue reading →

Two Mile Branch Trash 2023-02-11

Update 2023-02-18: Valdosta promises an upgraded Watergoat; offers no plan for cleaning it out or nearby woods 2023-02-17.

Lots of trash is on land owned by the City of Valdosta at Berkley Drive, upstream on Two Mile Branch, especially after the recent rains.

[Trash and fire extinguisher, Two Mile Branch 2023-02-11]
Trash and fire extinguisher, Two Mile Branch 2023-02-11

This is in City Council District 5, Tim Carroll.

I’ve heard that the city goes out and cleans this up, but it just comes back. If I were them, I’d start to wonder where it’s all coming from, and how to stop it. Like maybe by enforcing the city’s own ordinances prohibiting letting trash escape parking lots, and requiring trash cans.

The yellow lines in this map outline city-owned tracts of land. Continue reading →

From bad to worse: Cherry Creek 2023-02-12

Update 2024-01-28: Four more Valdosta sewage spills 2023-12-17.

Update 2023-02-17: Valdosta sewer main collapse, US 84, effects to E. Park Ave., along Knights Creek 2023-02-15.

The Withlacoochee River tested worse than Cherry Creek for E. coli both upstream and downstream from where Cherry Creek comes in, after Valdosta’s Saturday sewage spill.

[Cherry Creek tests 2023-02-12]
Cherry Creek tests 2023-02-12

So that 2,800 gallons of raw sewage apparently did not materially affect the Withlacoochee River.

But the test results mean it would be wise to steer clear of creeks and rivers for a few days. Continue reading →

Cherry Creek water quality sampling after Valdosta sewage spill 2023-02-12

Update 2023-02-12: From bad to worse: Cherry Creek 2023-02-12.

Valdosta had a small sewage spill Saturday, next to a branch of Cherry Creek. It was probably too small to have much effect on the creek and even less on the Withlacoochee River. WWALS sent water quality testers out to sample anyway.

[Boys & Girls Club Lift Station, Lake Laurie Drive, The Dip, Lake Cleve, Cherry Creek 2023-02-12]
Boys & Girls Club Lift Station, Lake Laurie Drive, The Dip, Lake Cleve, Cherry Creek 2023-02-12

Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson texted me yesterday. He says the spill was first reported to Valdosta Utilities about 7:30 PM and “stopped discharging about 11:00p last night.” He was referring to Saturday, February 11, 2023.

The amount is estimated to be 2,800 gallons. That’s a minor spill (less than 10,000 gallons).

The spill was from Valdosta’s Boys and Girls Club Lift Station, 3658 Lake Laurie Drive, Valdosta, GA 31605. That’s in Valdosta City Council District 5, Tim Carroll. Continue reading →

Personnel and trash at Valdosta City Council 2022-08-11

It wasn’t us this time.

Council Sandra Tooley brought up trash, Click ‘n’ Fix, and Valdosta’s favorite excuse for not doing much: “we’re short on staff“ and “A lot of people have a lot of things going on in their departments.” This was in the last five minutes of the August 11, 2022, Valdosta City Council meeting.

[Council Sandra Tooley requests Executive Session about personnel and trash]
Council Sandra Tooley requests Executive Session about personnel and trash

The Mayor said they had a request for an Executive Session, and asked for a motion. Council Tim Carroll wondered why.

Council Sandra Tooley explained, “Citizens have come to me, and they have this thing they like to say, that we do not have enough staff, that we’re short on staff, that we’re not getting things done.”

See for yourself in this excerpt of Valdosta’s own facebook live video of the meeting. Continue reading →

Valdosta completing buys of 37 sewer lift station generators @ VCC 2022-03-10

Tonight Valdosta Mayor and Council will approve the last two of 37 emergency standby generators for lift stations, which is a milestone for Valdosta’s ongoing upgrades to its sanitary sewer system. Congratulations, Valdosta Mayor and Council and staff!

About Item 5.a. Consideration of bids for the purchase of two emergency standby Generators for Lift Stations located at Dillard’s and the Second Harvest Food Bank, on tonight’s agenda:

[Photograph of a lift station generator @ VCC 2022-03-10]
Photograph of a lift station generator @ VCC 2022-03-10

BUDGET IMPACT/FUNDING SOURCE: User Fees

HISTORY: To ensure continued sewage lift station operations during power outages and to satisfy the Georgia Environmental Protection Division requirements, the Utilities Department developed a scope of work to purchase two emergency standby generators. These generators are needed to prevent lift station failures due to power outages from storms or other unexpected causes. Several years ago, the City initiated a program to purchase standby generators or emergency standby diesel pumps for all of its existing sewage lift stations. These are the final two generators needed to complete the Program. Once they are installed, all 37 of our lift stations will have some form of dedicated emergency backup capability from generators and/or backup diesel pumps. Additionally, this will complete Condition 18 of the EPD Consent Order which requires the installation of fixed generators and/or backup pumps at all lift stations by September, 2023. Moving forward, all new City lift stations will include a dedicated emergency backup capability as part of their construction.

I added the emphasis to the above quotation. The italicized part about going forward is maybe as important as the boldfaced part about catching up.

Thanks to Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll for pointing out this completion of the lift station generator purchases.

Now we look forward to Valdosta finishing fixing manholes and sewer lines that leak in big rains, such as the one on Wainwright Drive at One Mile Branch.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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