It's Annual Meeting Time! See details below.

Speaking of the Annual Meeting, SRWA needs some new energy and leadership to keep moving forward. Why not think about stepping forward to tackle some projects and help us shape our mission. It doesn’t need to be a life-changing commitment, just a contribution of ideas and effort. The Annual Meeting would be the ideal time to get more involved. Call any of the Board members listed on our website (http://stoneswatershed.org) if you would like more information.

Calendar items:

Thursday, May 17. Board and membership meeting. 6:30 p.m., Carriage Lane Reception House, 319 E. Burton St., Murfreesboro. Everyone welcome.

Saturday, May 19. Second planting day for our restoration project at the Arts Center of Cannon County. We will plant native shrubs, grasses and flowers along the East Fork of the Stones River to restore a natural buffer. Gather at the Center's parking lot at 8 a.m. Wear sturdy shoes and bring work gloves. Hats and sunscreen are recommended. SRWA will provide water and snacks. You may bring your own tools or use ours. The Arts Center of Cannon County is at 1424 John Bragg Hwy, just west of Woodbury. Call Terri Hogan at 896-4645 for more information.

Saturday, May 26. Cleanup at Murfree Spring adjacent to the Discovery Center, 502 S.E. Broad St., Murfreesboro. Windblown and waterborne trash continue to be a problem at the in the Murfree Springs area, so periodic cleanups are needed. Meet in the parking lot of the Discovery Center at 10 a.m. Wear clothes and shoes that can get mucky and wet. Some work will be done from boats. Please note: despite the location, this is not an activity suitable for young children. For more information contact Bob Higman at 893-9633 or email srwa@stoneswatershed.org.

Saturday, June 2. Planting day along Lytle Creek and the Stones River as part of a program to control invasive Chinese Yam. This not an SRWA event, but is a cooperative project of Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation, Discovery Center, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and National Park Service. Gather at 9 a.m at the Bragg Headquarters trailhead of the greenway off Old Nashville Hwy., Murfreesboro. You may find yourself on television. Nashville public television's Volunteer Gardener crew will be there to record the activities.

Saturday June 9. Annual Meeting. Float on Stewart Creek and meet at the Sam Davis home in Smyrna. This will be a fun day that starts with a float/cleanup on Stewart Creek and ends at the Spring House of the historic Sam Davis Home for lunch and our annual business meeting. We will paddle and gather debris from the river as we go along without attempting to scour the banks or set any records for large and ungainly items collected. That will put us at the Sam Davis home about noon, where we will eat, socialize, see some exhibits and conduct our business meeting. Lunch will be deli sandwiches and potluck (contributions welcome but not required). You are welcome to come to the meeting even if you don't float, or float even if you don't stay for the meeting. 

Special thanks to the Sam Davis Home for hosting us this year.

Float participants should gather no later than 9 a.m. at 801 Belaire Dr., Smyrna. This is property belonging to SRWA president Toby Francis that provides a good put-in place.

Directions: if traveling north from Murfreesboro on Hwy. 41 (also known as South Lowry in Smyrna) you will turn left onto McNickel Dr., which is the first available left after passing the Nissan Drive interchange on the southern edge of town. McNickel will take you over the railroad tracks, then you'll take the first left onto Belaire Dr. and proceed about 1/2 mile to the property, on the left near the intersection of Rice Circle. We'll have a sign up to alert you.

Please let us know if you will participate in the float and/or the meeting by emailing srwa@stoneswatershed.org or calling Toby Francis at 459-6324. If you will float, tell us what kind of boat you have. We may also have a few spaces in boats available or you can rent a boat for the day from the MTSU Recreation Center (904-8335 or http://www.mtsu.edu/~camprec/outdoors/rental.html). Stewart Creek is generally an easy float, though there may be some hazards to get around or over. We will be in touch with float participants to provide additional information.

 Mapquest page for the float location: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=801+belaire,+smyrna+tn&sll=35.969289,-86.510725&sspn=0.010559,0.019226&ie=UTF8&om=0&ll=35.970817,-86.510596&spn=0.010559,0.019226&z=15&iwloc=addr

Friday, July 6. A mini-cleanup and some fun in anticipation of Boat Day. 6 p.m. at the Manson Pike trailhead on the Murfreesboro greenway.

Saturday, July 7. BOAT DAY!  Our third year will be better than ever. 9 a.m. to noon at the Manson Pike trailhead. Sponsored in cooperation with Murfreesboro Parks and Greenway Association. We will have a variety of canoes and kayaks available for you to try out on the pastoral West Fork of the Stones. This is a great opportunity to get comfortable on one of our local streams. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Saturday, July 21. Visual Stream Assessment training. SRWA will host this training for our own membership and participants from other watershed associations in the mid-state, in cooperation with the Cumberland River Compact. SRWA Board member Beth Chesson, a storm water and water quality specialist and SRWA past-president, will offer a version of the very successful training that was presented to a largely professional audience in March. Time and location TBA.  Mark your calendars and watch for more information about this training.  Space will be limited!

Mark your calendars. SRWA will sponsor a "Summit on Short Mountain" on the weekend of September 21 with funding from the World Wildlife Fund Southeastern Streams Project. The meeting will consider ways that the Stones, Caney and Collins watershed associations can work together, with a focus on the protecting our shared headwaters area. Short Mountain is a unique remnant or outlier of the Cumberland Plateau (a monadnock in geologic terms) that provides headwaters to streams in all three systems. This will be a relaxing weekend and a good family opportunity. We appreciate the support of WWF. Watch for more information.

We're the first! A partnership of the Tenn. Department of Conservation and Environment and Tenn. Department of Transportation has resulted in a new program to place signs along Tennessee interstates to alert travelers when they are entering a new watershed. The Stones River Watershed was chosen as one of the first watersheds to receive signs, and we were featured at a press conference held at the Nashville Earth Day festival. Go to our website  to get a first look.