Greetings from Your Watershed Association. October 2006

Saturday, October 21. Fall color float on the Stones River. Our tentative route is from a private home on Lascassas Road/Hwy 96 E to property belonging to the City of Murfreesboro near the VA hospital. That may change depending on weather and water flows. That section generally has water even during low flows. Start time is 9 am and we expect to be off the river about 2 pm. Participants must provide their own boats, paddles and life jackets, and should bring water and a lunch. Both canoes and kayaks can be rented from the Outdoor Pursuits program of the Campus Recreation at MTSU (898-2104).

To participate you must register with Bob Higman, Rivers Activities chair, so that you can be contacted with details and notified of any changes. Call Bob at 893-9633 or email him at bobhigman@comcast.net by next Wednesday, 8/18.

Thursday, October 19. Board and membership meeting, 6:30 pm, Carriage Lane Reception House, 337 E. Burton St., Murfreesboro.  Everyone is welcome. These monthly gatherings are our regular business meeting but they also include a good mix of news updates, friendly arguments and humor.

Saturday, November 11. SRWA will assist the City of Lavergne with Community Cleanup Day on an old roadbed along Hurricane Creek that will soon become a greenway. Registration begins at 8:30 am at the Hurricane Creek boat ramp, off Stones River Road. Everyone should wear boots or sturdy shoes and gloves. Some SRWA members will be in canoes or kayaks to do cleanup from in the creek. If you want to be included in the boat activities contact Bob Higman (893-9633/bobhigman@comcast.net). Lunch will be provided at 11 am.

Stones River Road intersects Hwy. 41/Murfreesboro Rd. about a mile before the Davidson County line if you're driving north. Turn right and watch for signs for the boat ramp.

Reports: Our Partnerships and Opportunities program on September 19 was a valuable chance to learn from people who have been working for 10 years to build up a network of river stewards in the Little River Watershed in the Maryville and Blount County area. Kim Raia and Tom Eustis of the Little River Watershed Association and Curtis Williams of the Maryville Stormwater Program described the slow process of building trust, engaging institutional partners and working together to develop and advance a vision. While the physical characteristics of the Little River system are very different from ours, many of the strategies that have been successfully applied can translate well to our situation.