SOQUE BULLETIN
Monday July 23, 2012
It doesn't look like much now but where Mike Bramblett (the County's facilities director) is standing
will be a curbless main drive into the courthouse, with all the runoff directed into a vegetated swale located where he's staring.
We'll continue to photograph each phase of these new structures and describe them in upcoming newspaper columns, see below.
1) Support Local Farms - SHOP at Northeast Georgia LOCALLY GROWN
2) SRWA and Grace Calvary Church team up to maintain GREENWAYS bridge and boardwalk
3) SRWA staff to write monthly columns on conservation and sustainability topics
4) SRWA Radio and Podcasts now available on www.soque.org
5) Soque Camp for kids everyday this week
6) Upcoming Events - Rainbarrel / Raingarden Workshop - August 16th & Paddle Clean Up - September 29
1) Support Local Farms - SHOP at Northeast Georgia LOCALLY GROWN
It's the height of the growing season. We encourage you to support local farms and enjoy the fruits of the summer by shopping at the Northeast Georgia Locally Grown farmers market. If you haven't tried before it's an online market, with orders taken Sunday night from 9pm until Monday night at 9pm (so you still have plenty of time this week). You can order foods from dozens of farms across Northeast Georgia and they'll harvest fresh produce just for you. There's a plethora of other foods such as breads, milk, meats, eggs and more. Pick up is at Grace Calvary Chuch in Clarkesville on Wednesday from 5-7pm, or in Tiger, GA same times. Give it a try we think you'll enjoy it. (We also encourage you to visit the Clarkesville Farmers Market at the Garden of Wellness.) We'll be conducting a USER survey in a week or so to get your feedback. Thanks for supporting local foods and we hope you'll EAT WELL!
Locally Grown is a project of the SRWA to promote sustainable land based businesses
in Habersham County and beyond
2) SRWA and Grace Calvary Church team up to maintain GREENWAYS bridge and boardwalk
If you've ever taken a walk along the Clarkesville Greenway you've noticed that two of the prettiest features are the boardwalk over the "Wetland that Built Itselt" and the bridge over Rocky Branch that takes you to Mary Street Park. Luckily both of these structures are going to get some needed maintenance thanks to a YOUTH GROUP all the way from Gainseville, FL and Grace Calvary Church. They were looking for a volunteer project, and offered to help us put fresh Wood Sealer which will lengthen the life of these structures by a decade or more. We'll have pictures of their work project which begins tomorrow morning around 10am. We encourage you to head down to the Greenway sometime after Wednesday (both structures will be closed for 24 hours following the treatment) and see how nice they look. It's good to have support like this for our community resources. Big thanks to the City of Clarkesville as well who provided the materials needed for this project. If you have a group seeking a community project let us know. There are many opportunities to give something back.
3) SRWA staff to write monthly columns on conservation and sustainability topics
The Northeast Georgian recently graciously asked us to write two monthly articles for the newspaper about a range of conservation and sustainability topics. Every other week Duncan Hughes and Justin Ellis will alternate in submitting a story about a broad range of topics and projects. Big Thanks to the Northeast Georgian for this great opportunity. Here's a copy of last Friday's article. We hope you enjoy.
We received some very kind feedback to this article the following day:
"I just read your column in the Northeast Georgian explaining what a "watershed" is and how water "works" in the natural world. Thank you for the clearest explanation I've ever heard--particularly the description of groundwater, a mystery to many of us. I know you probably speak to school groups from time to time, but I think lots of other groups would benefit from hearing you give such explanations. I will be looking forward to this column from you and Duncan! Thanks!"
Thank You! We're looking forward to writing more!
4) SRWA Radio and Video Podcasts now available on www.soque.org
The digital age has really made it easier and easier to disseminate information in quick and useful ways. We're trying to catch up with these trends by making some of our pre-recorded Radio and Video stories readily available. We haven't mastered these techniques yet, but we do have a new Media Player on our website that allows you to listen to MP3 radio shows and watch videos directly from our website. You can also download the AUDIO mp3 and put them on your I-POD and other mp3 player to listen to while on the go. We have about 6 short programs available now and will be adding another half dozen in the weeks ahead.
One reason we were inspired to give this a try was a recent program with Candice Felice at WPPR, the NPR affiliate here in Demorest on July 20, 2012. During the program she interviews Justin Ellis, the SRWA Director, and Ben Dockins the manager of the Clarkesville Farmers Market and asks some interesting questions about growing organic food, the linkages between agriculture and clean water, and the availability of local food across Northeast Georgia. To find this new feature click on the following link:
5) Soque Camp for kids everyday this week
Duncan Hughes is leading our kids camp this week during which they will get to climb to the headwaters, collect fish and macroinvertebrates, visit local farms, and canoe the Soque River. Ah, to be a kid again. We'll post photos to our Facebook page of the weeks activities.
6) Upcoming Events - Harvesting RAIN using Rainbarrel / Raingarden Workshop - August 16th & Paddle Clean Up - September 29
Mark your calendars for the SRWA's next two events. First is our annual RAINBARREL and RAINGARDEN Workshop coming up in about three weeks on August 16th. The workshop and LUNCH is once again held at the Visual Technology Building at North Georgia Technical College from 12-2pm. Spread the word as this is one of our best attended workshops. We'll cover all the details on the benefits of Harvesting Rain using rainbarrels and raingardens. We'll also tour the rain garden built over 2 years ago on the college campus. Rainbarrels will be available for this day only at the discounted price of $35 (normally $45) as our way of saying thanks for learning about the importance of reusing rainwater in the environment. Last but not least we'll again have the tastiest Local Food Lunch in all Habersham County with Heriloom Tomates from Moonshadow Farms on locally baked bread, and blueberry cobbler from local blueberries for desert. A lunch donation of $5-$10 is encouraged.
Please help us spread the word by printing out the attached PDF Flier and putting one up in a public location!
Last year's workshop attendees observe and learn about the Rain Garden at NGTC.
Paddle Clean Up - September 29 - in conjunction with Rivers Alive.
You may want to make your reservations early for our only paddle clean-up of the year. The trip is limited to 40 total volunteers. Must have your own boat and be able to carry it. We'll have folks drop their boats off at Farm Hill just north of the City of Clarkesville. The paddle clean up will take out at Habersham Mills Lake. Trip should take no more than 2-3 hours. We'll start at 9am to meet at a location to be determined. We'll have several vehicles to drive folks back to their cars to come pick up their boats at the Lake. We expect to find some interesting accumulations in this area as we've not been here before. To reserve your spot e-mail Justin at soque@windstream.net. All participants will get a Rivers Alive t-shirt.
Justin Ellis
Executive Director
Soque River Watershed Association
www.soque.org
706-754-9382
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