My Big Summer Project

Well, actually it is a project I work on all year, but it is complete in the summer. It is occupying all my time at the moment.


My ultimate summer craft involves a lot of people. There is music, food, beer, hands-on activities and much more.

Summer project central is being staffed here by my team and a few of the fantastic ladies who made the Sunlight Project Quilt you can see hanging near the back of the tent.


Here some of our young volunteers are getting a lesson on water quality testing. These fantastic kids are recruited through scout troops and the local schools. They spend the morning hefting and toting and putting up tents. Some of our fantastic stream monitoring volunteers then do a mini-workshop for the kids. It gives us real data on the state of the river and it helps many of the kids work toward merit badges.
And this is what it is all about. Lots of people paddling for clean water! The Race for the Rivers is at its heart a series of pledge-based canoe and kayak races to raise funds to support clean water education, restoration, research and recreation all year long. This year we are adding a couple bike rides to go along with the paddle events. Given the flooded state of the river, that is probably a good thing. We are still hopeful that we will be able to paddle but we've still got a lot of water to go before we are in the clear. **

** I started writing this a while ago and then got distracted. In the interim, we've had heavy rain up river causing more flooding. The paddle events have to be canceled, but the bike rides and festival will go on.