Soque Bulletin- April 25, 2014

SOQUE BULLETIN April 23, 2014   1) Camp Creek Reservoir Clean Up Tomorrow - April 26th - 9AM  2) Office Donations to the SRWA have poured in 3) Clarkesville Greenway Expansion moving forward this summer 4) Rocky Branch stream restoration project - May 5th  5) Courthouse Stormwater Workshop and Soque Partnership meeting - May 15th  6) SRWA Office OPEN HOUSE - during Mountain Laurel Festival - May 17th        1) Camp Creek Reservoir Clean Up Tomorrow - April 26th - 9AM  The SRWA is teaming up with the City of Cornelia in tomorrow's annual Great American Clean-Up. We'd love your assistance as we help to clean litter and trash from around Cornelia's drinking water reservoir and a vital tributary to the Soque River, upper Camp Creek. If you haven't seen this area before, the lake is quite beautiful and the dip (formerly known as the Mt. Airy Carwash) is a rare and interesting feature to experience. We'll get started at 9am on Wilson Road, near the lake. Directions are drive to the Dairy Queen in Cornelia and turn onto Camp Creek Road. Wilson Road is about 1.5 miles on the right (just past the water treatment plant). We'll have garbage bags and probably rubber gloves (but bring 'em if you got 'em). Thanks for your help.   2) Office Donations to the SRWA have poured in The last month and a half has reminded us what a great community we live in. After the fire on March 5th we have received dozens upon dozens of donations of office supplies, furniture, artwork, and other items to rebuild a new office. The outpouring has been truly amazing. Everything you see in these photos has been donated. Even though we are still sad about the loss of our very loved office, we are slowly rebuilding what may in many ways be an even better office. We haven't had time to compile the names of everyone who has donated a gift but will do that very soon to show our extreme appreciation. We are probably close to 80% towards having a complete and functioal office. We thought we'd list just a few final items we still need that you may have laying around.  broom foot mats (at entrance) digital camera (camera bag) office phones (the ones we have are on loan) table cloths (any colors) plastic tubs or containers with lids (for storage) fire extinquisher (seems funny I know) smoke alarm (yep, this too) kitchen dish soap / sponges Cashbox (preferably with lock) Any software (for MAC or WINDOWS) Laserpointer double AA triple AAA batteries (rechargable are ideal) thumbdrives other external harddrives river artwork small table (to put a print on) rubbermaid folding tables display board We cannot give enough thanks to those who have helped us get back on our feet!   3) Clarkesville Greenway Expansion moving forward this summer     We're inching closer and closer to breaking ground on the Phase II expansion of the Clarkesville Greenway into Mary Street Park. Click on the above image to see a blown up version of the map. Once completed this extension will become the new primary entrance to the GREENWAY with plenty of parking located at the Old Lions Club building parking lot. Other features will include better handicap access, including access to bathrooms and picnic tables. The expansion will add one half mile to the existing 1 mile of trail. You can also see a related news story from the Northeast Georgian. 4) Rocky Branch stream restoration project - May 5th  Restoration of eroding streambanks is a challenging but important aspect of the work of the SRWA and our Soque Partnership. Often preventing problems before they occur is the absolute best solution, but when absolutely necessary a full-blown restoration project is in order. That is the case on this lower section of Rocky Branch located on the existing  Clarkesville Greenway as can be seen clearly in this photo.   Construction of this project will begin on May 5th and we'll have a workshop at a later date to discuss our approach and recommendations for stream restoration. If you'd like more information on STREAMSIDE MANAGEMENT we are working on a brand new publication that is in DRAFT form now that we hope may help landowners protect their property and streams for the benefit of all. Download the brochure here  5) Courthouse Stormwater Workshop and Soque Partnership meeting - May 15th  We'll be hosting an educational tour of the stormwater features built at the new Habersham County courthouse on Thursday, May 15th at 6pm. The tour will talk about how stormwater damages streams and how these structures are designed to reduce the volume and impacts of stormwater. After the tour we'll go inside the courthouse for a quick update of Soque Partnership Projects planned for the Hazel Creek Watershed over the next year and half. 6) SRWA Office OPEN HOUSE - during Mountain Laurel Festival - May 17th  We'd love to welcome the enitre community to come by our office in just 3 weeks during the Mountain Laurel Festival on Saturday May 17th to see where we're located, enjoy some snacks, and most of all to hear about a new very exciting project that we are launching this spring and summer. We'll be doing a press release before the event announcing the project, so scoot up to the edge of your seat with anticipation. We think you'll be as excited about it as we are. Hope to see you soon at 1387 Washington Street. We'll have signs by then!   Justin Ellis Executive Director Soque River Watershed Association www.soque.org 706-754-9382   Donations to the Soque River Watershed Association (SRWA) are tax deductible.   You can JOIN the SRWA or make a Donation by clicking HERE

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Soque River Watershed Association PO Box 1901 Clarkesville, GA 30523 US Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.

Locally Grown kicks off just before EASTER

The Locally Grown online farmers market kicks off it's regular season next week with ordering beginning on April 18th. But don't wait until then. The market is open today, Sunday, April 13th until 9PM and we have tons of local pasture raised eggs just in time for EASTER. The pickup is still on Wednesdays either at Grace Calvary Church's carport in Clarkesville (one block past the library) or at Mill Gap Farm in Tiger, GA from 5-7 PM every Wednesday.

The market is growing. Starting June 6th we'll be expanding to Gainseville. 

If you'd like to be a customer, you can open an account and place an order at http://northeastgeorgia.locallygrown.net/welcome

If you'd like to help local farmers by being a volunteer for Locally Grown send Justin an e-mail at soque@windstream.net.

Print out this brochure and share with your friends.

http://www.soque.org/pdfs/FLIER_2014_link.pdf