| SOQUE BULLETIN May 9, 2014 1) SRWA launches Soquee River Days Contest & Book - May 1st- July 31st
2) Sponsor one of our SUMMER EVENTS - deadlines 5/14 and 5/30
3) Courthouse Stormwater TOUR & Soque Partnership meeting - May 15th
4) SRWA New Office OPEN HOUSE - Mountain Laurel Festival - May 17th
5) Rocky Branch stream restoration project COMPLETED
6) 2014 Georgia Mountains Farm Tour - June 28-29 On Sale Now
7) Huge THANKS to OFFICE donors and Kollock Memorial Donors 1) SRWA launches Soquee River Days Contest & Book - May 1st- July 31st  Click image for PDF of POSTER - sponsors will be updated thru 5/30
We're excited to announce that in lieu of the PADDLE FESTIVAL this year (due to the fire and losing our Festival site we just aren't able to do it this year but we'll bring it back we promise) the SRWA is hosting a summer event in honor of artist John Kollock who has inspired several generations with his paintings of the natural world. The event is called "Soquee River Days", the title of one of John's greatest paintings (picture above). The project features a CONTEST to submit stories, artwork, poetry and photographs that depict people's experiences on the Soque River and her feeder streams. We'll then assemble the entire collection of photos, kids art, oral histories and more to be featured on a website, and the best of those bound into a book this fall which will also be titled Soquee River Days.
Since, the Soque River has touched the lives of every single resident and visitor to Habersham County in some way we want to honor two of our region's greatest treasures, John Kollock, and the Soque River, by capturing our community's experiences of people and the river then sharing these experiences and stories with one another.
From May 1st to July 31st submissions are encouraged in five categories
- Photos - both current and historical
- Artwork - all forms from paintings to sculpture to wood carvings and more
- Stories - written or oral (we have an audio recorder)
- Poetry - you know what that is
- Kids Art - were really excited about this one and the sky is the limit (mashed potatoe sculpture of the watershed?)
Everyone who makes a submission will receive a free map of the Soque River and have their work posted on a website. In August, five winners, one in each category, will be selected by a panel and awarded $100 and a print of Mr. Kollock's "Soquee River Days." Dozens of submitted works will also be selected for publication in a hardbound book available to the public this fall. Submissions do not have to be new, they can be from long ago, or even by artists and individuals no longer with us. Helping to collect stories from others, such as family and friends is also encouraged.
During the three month contest SRWA staff will take a kayak and bicycle tour around the entire Soque Watershed, writing stories, interviewing people and taking photographs. The purpose of the tour is to demonstrate where the lands of the Soque Watershed are and the types of stories and people that help shape our understanding of the landscape. Nancy Kollock, John's wife, described how, "once you've had an experience of the river, you care more," and in that spirit new experiences interacting with the river this summer are encouraged.
The SRWA will begin collecting submissions during our OPEN HOUSE (see below) at our new offices located at 1387 Washington Street, across the street from Habersham Community Theatre on Saturday May 17th, during the Mountain Laurel Festival, 9am to 3pm. Those with photographs or other works you'd like to submit are encouraged to bring them to be scanned that day and to receive a free map. Submissions will also be accepted on a continuous basis through July 31st.
Since the event is more about sharing experiences with one another, than about winning a contest, all submissions great and small are encouraged. "A few years ago elementary age students drew pictures of colorful signs that read "You are now entering the Soque River Watershed," says Ellis. "We put those signs up all along the foyer of our old office to inspire people. Even though those little treasures were lost in the Clarkesville downtown fire in March, we're certain that the treasures that people still have in their attics, in their minds and hearts, in their family histories and in their passion to get out there and explore can build an incredible legacy for this River that we'll all be proud we helped create. It's a chance for each of us to become a part of Habersham history."
More details on the contest, the book, the blog and the tour will be posted regularly at our website www.soque.org, or e-mail soque@windstream.net or call 706-754-9382. 2) Sponsor one of our SUMMER EVENTS - deadlines 5/14 and 5/30 One of the best ways to support the SRWA and our community projects is to sponsor one of our summer events. In year's past we've had close to 30 sponsors. This year we expect even more people to be involved in the SOQUEE RIVER DAYS event described above and the 3rd Annual Georgia Mountains Farm Tour (tickets on sale now by clicking link).
Here's the details for sponsorship categories and benefits (especially if you're a business looking for community marketing opportunities).  Click image above for a PDF version of our Sponsorship Options Deadlines for sponsorship are coming up soon. Sponsors for the FARM TOUR must be in by next Wednesday, May 14th by 9am. Sponsorships for the SOQUEE RIVER DAYS contest and book will be accepted until Friday, May 30th at 9am.
Huge thanks to our first 4 sponsors - Springer Mountain Farms, Habersham Chamber of Commerce, Oliver and Weidner Attorneys and Regions Bank! 3) Courthouse Stormwater TOUR & Soque Partnership meeting - May 15th  Click image above for a PDF version of the Stormwater Tour
We're 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 tour of this new facility and an update of Soque Partnership Projects planned for the Hazel Creek Watershed over the next year and half.
Please attend. Guaranteed to be very educational and great opportunity to get to know the NEW COURTHOUSE!
4) SRWA New Office OPEN HOUSE - Mountain Laurel Festival - May 17th
 Click image above for a PDF version of OPEN HOUSE Flier Come hang out with us during our NEW OFFICE OPEN HOUSE next weekend @ the Mountain Laurel Festival!
And if you'd like to volunteer to lend a hand for an hour or so send us an e-mail to soque@windstream.net. We'll be collecting and scanning photos and artwork of the SOQUE that day. 5) Rocky Branch stream restoration project COMPLETED
Once again we get the very nice reward of an awesome BEFORE AND AFTER photo following our stream restoration of a section of Rocky Branch on the Clarkesville Greenway.
This project was a giant collaborative between the City of Clarkesville including Jeremy Pirkle, Chris Yearwood, Stephen Roberts, and Tim Durham, the SRWA (especially Duncan Hughes who coordinated the whole project), our engineer Jason Zink of Zink Environmental in Asheville, NC, and John Yearwood who did all the grading (a man with a steady hand) and Mark Alley who helped with material delivery. There were many, many others who assisted giving everything from advice on grass seed to permits, etc., etc.
If you'd like to see what a natural channel design restoration looks like take a walk on the Clarkesville Greenway (try not to trample it too bad though) and read our new publication on streambank management. Download the brochure here
We'll have a slide show of the whole project soon to give you an idea of how dramatically this bank was changed.
Again huge thanks for all who made this project possible! 6) 2014 Georgia Mountains Farm Tour - June 28-29 On Sale Now
You can order your weekend passes now for the premiere local food event in North Georgia. We'll have a draft of the farms participating in this year's event on the website by Saturday. Brochures will be mailed out starting Monday, May 19th. 7) Huge THANKS to OFFICE donors and Kollock Memorial Donors
THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DONATED ITEMS TO OUR NEW OFFICE. It's starting to fee like home as you'll see during our OPEN HOUSE.
2014 Office Donations
Alison George
All Service Printing, Ty Akins
Barbara Traver
Barrie Aycock
Betty House
Bob Brooksher
Century 21
Chattahoochee River Keeper
Cindy White
Claudia Lyle
Dale Latty
Dave and Sue Myers
Dockery's Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC
Ethicon
First United Methodist
Girl Scout Troop 11208 c/o Leigh Lipkin
Habersham County Extension Office
Habersham County Commissioners
Habitat for Humanity
Jaime Huffman
James Sullivan
Janet Westervelt
Jennifer Noto
Jim and Barbara Hudak
Jo Ellen Berg
Judy James
Kathy Church
Katie Ledford CB&T
Kay Bird
Keith Boger
Kimberly Griswold
Lee Kilby
Linda Moore
Nancy Kollock
Randy Moser
Richard and Joy Smith
Rocket Roy Lowe
Ruth Brokenshire
Sharing and Caring Clarkesville
Teri and Bob Parker
Tom Dunken
Virginia Webb
AND HUGE THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN IN MEMORY OF OUR FRIEND JOHN KOLLOCK.
John Kollock Memorial Donros
Ellen Pfirrmann
Toby and Gwen Goodlett
Marjorie Waters
Jennie Inglis
K Jefferson Rice
Alice Clark
Dennis Clines
Annaclair and Jim Kiger
Shirley Hastings
Ray and Antonia Reed
Lila & Don Porterfield
Alan and Anne Hall
Richard and Billie Monroe
Jim Thacker
Ivy Rutzky
Helen Chamber Of Commerce
Tom Smith
Gary and Lamara Partain
Billye Runion
Patricia and Larry Williams
Brian and Mary Van Eerden
June Landreth
Whew! See you outside sometime soon!
Justin Ellis Executive Director Soque River Watershed Association 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 |
