River des Peres Watershed-Wide Water Quality Review

Last weekend, the River des Peres Watershed Coalition held their 6th Annual Watershed-Wide Water Quality Review.  This event is timed each year to coordinate with World Water Monitoring Day.

During this event, trained Stream Team volunteers ventured out across the watershed to collect water quality samples.  Over the past 6 years, the group has managed to monitor up to 32 sites, though not always on the same day.  Volunteers met at 8:30am in Forest Park on Sunday, October 2nd.  After receiving their site assignments, the five groups dispersed to monitor their sites.  They met up again around noon at CiCi's Pizza in Rock Hill to share their data over a tasty pizza buffet.

If you missed out on the fun last weekend, there are still opportunities to participate!  This Sunday afternoon, October 9th, the Gravois Creek portion of the River des Peres watershed is the place to be!!  Participants in the Gravois Creek 'Bike With Your Boots On' event will meet at 12:30 at the parking lot of the Crestwood Public Works building (8699 Pardee Rd).  Then they will ride their bikes as a group along Grant's Trail, stopping along the way to test the water quality in the stream.  If you plan on attending, please call Eric at 314-603-8834 or e-mail riverdesperes@thegreencenter.org.

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Upcoming Event: St. Louis Stream Team Summit - September 17th

On September 17th, Stream Team volunteers from across the area are invited to the St. Louis Stream Team Summit.  Summit topics were chosen based on the results of a survey that was sent out to all of the Stream Teams in St. Louis area and will include regional pollution problems, flash flooding, rain gardens, invasive species, and local restoration efforts.

Featured plenary speakers include:

• Holly Neill, Executive Director of the Missouri Stream Team Watershed Coalition,
• Lance LeComb, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, and 
• Tom Siegel, Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The Summit will run from 9:00 till 4:30 with the registration table opening at 8:15.  Lunch is provided.  Admission of $10 per person is due in advance to the Missouri Stream Team Watershed Coalition - all proceeds will be divided between the three Stream Team Associations that serve the St. Louis area:

• Greenway Network,
• Northern Ozarks River Partnership (NORP), and
• River des Peres Watershed Coalition (RdPWC). 

For details or to register, see the StreamGram sent out for the event.

Upcoming Event: Race for the Rivers Festival - August 27

If you are looking for an pleasant afternoon along the riverfront in historic St. Charles, then you couldn't pick a better day than Saturday, August 27th!  This is the date for this year's Race for the Rivers Festival.  The organizers are certainly grateful that Mother Nature seems to be cooperating and the Missouri River is not too high.

This event is run by the Greenway Network, a Stream Team Association (Stream Team 463) based in St. Charles, but committed to serving the St. Louis Region.  The Greenway Network is a grassroots, volunteer-based organization whose mission is to conserve natural resources, encourage sound management of the area's watersheds and protect the quality of life for all citizens.

The Races:
The Race for the Rivers Festival includes opportunities for paddlers of all strokes to challenge themselves and their competitors on the Mighty Missouri River.  They offer three races to accommodate various skill levels.  There are divisions for solo and tandem, canoe and kayak.  I paddled in the Clean Water Challenge in 2008 with Kelly White and had a blast.  I think I'll try it again this year!

• Race for the Rivers - a 65 mile race broken into two stretches: Washington, MO to Frontier Park on Saturday and Frontier Park to the Confluence with the Mississippi on Sunday.
• Clean Water Challenge - a 20 mile race beginning at  Weldon Spring and ending at Frontier Park on the festival grounds.
• The newest addition - a one-day, 41 mile race, from Washington, MO to Frontier Park. 

The Rides:
This year, Greenway Network has partnered with Trailnet to also offer Ride for the Rivers.  They offer two routes along the Katy Trail that begin and end at Frontier Park: 5 mile and 25 mile loops.

The Festival:
The highlight of this event for most folks is the festival.  You can easily spend a relaxing afternoon listening to music, watching the river go by and the paddlers floating in. The prime things to check out:

• Musical acts preforming on the main stage from noon till 7pm.
• Food and craft booths.
• Educational booths and activities for the kids.
• Watch the racers come in and enjoy the award ceremony.

I hope to see you there!!

Successful Meramec Celebration

Kelci sells raffle tickets near the prize table.

Yesterday's 15th Annual Meramec Watershed Celebration was an awesome event!  The morning was filled with a look at macroinvertebrates in the Meramec River, a naturalist program, tubing and swimming in the river, watershed bingo, and more.  I spent the morning at the Level 2 Validation for water quality monitoring led by Chris and Wayne.  Thanks to them, many of us now have fresh chemicals and the knowledge that our equipment is all in working order!

By the time I got to the picnic site, everything was in full swing; lunch had begun, raffle tickets were being sold, kids were running around with their great prizes from the children's activity table.  Everyone was enjoying catching up with old friends and making new friends.  A few people even put down their $40 to pre-order one of the first Stream Team License Plates (more on this later, I'm sure)!

After lunch, several awards were presented to people who have contributed special efforts to the Stream Team Program in the past year.  Congratulations go out to many people for this event:

• Stream Team Ambassador Awardees: Lisa Adams, Danelle Haake, Debbie Miller, and Hydie M.
• Operation Clean Stream Stewardship Awardees: Steve Anderson and Bo Jarvis
• Stream Team Staff Appreciation Awardees: Darlene Haun and Carl Romesburg
• Stream Team Staff Farewell Paddle: Andrew Branson

Awardees (left to right) Debbie Miller, Bo Jarvis, Carl Romesburg, Darlene Haun, Danelle Haake, and Hydie M.

Following the awards, the final raffle tickets were sold (nearly 2000 tickets!) and numbers were drawn.
The first ticket to win belonged to Mike Bure and his prize of choice was the grand prize of the year, a kayak!  The second winner selected the smaller kids kayak.  Other prizes included a stone garden rabbit, coolers of beer, several gift cards to QT, multi-canoe float trips, a hand-made quilt, and much, much more.  I'd love to get comments from you on what YOU took home; I got the ice cream maker, a 5-canoe float trip, and a package of glow-in-the-dark toys for the kids.

Mike Bure (and Chico) with his new kayak!
Photo by Brian Waldrup

After the raffle, many took to the water for poling lessons or tubing trips, or just to spend some quality time in the water.  A short while later, it was time for the final event of the day: the canoe races.  Given the hot weather, not many folks stayed around to watch or participate in the canoe races.  So, for those of you who missed out, here are the final standings:

• Solo Men - Paul Wibbenmeyer, Hogan Haake, Vernon Pursley, and Ahti Rovainen
• Solo Women - Danelle Haake, Debbie Miller, Lorisa Runnels, and Katie Wibbenmeyer (DNF)
• Youth - Marina Pursley and Nick Pursley
• Mixed Tandem - Hogan & Danelle Haake, Katie Wibbenmeyer & Mike Bure (with Chico the dog), and Connor Kirk & Kelci Wibbenmeyer

Now, I feel the need to add a little bit about the races, particularly given my great fortune in placing first in two races...  I want to give kudos to Katie.  In our solo race, she was ahead of me by a canoe length almost from the start.  I stayed close enough that I think she worked harder than she expected, but she was in the lead.  Unfortunately, she thought that the take-out was the finish line, so she stopped just a few feet shy of the actual finish line.  I was prepared to offer her the win, but she was tremendously gracious and insisted that I take first.  In her words, 'You got first and it was not a technicality.'  I'm sure that next year she will be eager to take back the title, as I believe she has placed first in at least 3 of the past 5 years (perhaps 5 of 5!), and I will be glad to comply!

An electrician's nightmare, OR, the only way
to power enough fans to keep us all cool!

Katie's fortune did not improve in the tandem race with Mike Bure.  Near the beginning of the race, they got hung up on a log.  We all blamed Mike, not because of any paddling error, but because he dared to accept a T-shirt that held bad karma.  This shirt was viewed as so badly tainted that it was the very last item left on the raffle table - as heavily a laden table that it was.  Perhaps one of you knows more about the story behind the T-shirt.  If so, please share in a comment...

Many thanks go to the organizers who hosted the event, the donors who provided great raffle prizes, and the operators of Meramec State Park for providing such a lovely venue.  Great job, Jackie and family, Larry and Amy, Burt, Brian, and everyone else who had a hand in continuing to make this event one of my favorite of the year!!

Upcoming Event: 15th Annual Meramec Watershed Celebration

One of my favorite Stream Team events of the year is coming up on Saturday, July 23rd.  The 15th Annual Meramec Watershed Celebration will be held once again at Meramec State Park in Sullivan, Missouri.  While the name may sound like it is an event for Stream Team members in the Meramec River watershed, the organizers really want this to be a celebration of Stream Teams across the state.  They realize that few folks from the further ends of the state will make the trek, but there have been folks from Kansas City and other distant areas at the event in the past.  And for good reason...

I've got to tell you, the Meramec River watershed folks know how to throw a party!!  The morning starts off with a bit of education and information with a Level 2 WQM refresher class and a naturalist program.  They have games and crafts for kids most of the day.  They build up the excitement with a great BBQ (bring a covered side-dish to share) and raffle ticket sales.  Then they turn on the heat (this is July in Missouri after all) as they call the raffle numbers and winners select their prizes from an amazing assortment of goodies: kayaks, rain barrels, float trips, restaurant and gas station gift cards, golf clubs, baskets of toys and books, and who knows what else!  Sprinkle in some relaxing tubing on the Meramec, add in a poling clinic, and spice it up with some canoe sprints and you've got the fixings for a grand ole time!

If you are the true outdoors type, you can turn this day of celebration into a whole weekend. Group Campsite A in the park is reserved for Stream Teamers from Friday thru Sunday.  Last year it was a bit too hot out for the kids, so we passed on the camping, but this year we are planning to spend at least one night.  I hope to see you there - I'll bring the marshmallows!