| | | Paddle the Middle!
Saturday, July 28th
FULL MOON FLOAT TRIP * Three magical, moonlit river miles.
* Meet at 10:00 pm.
* Downstream of Verona. * Fee is $10 per person, which covers your 1-day event insurance + 3 raffle tickets.
* Keep in mind, this float will be cancelled or rescheduled if it is cloudy...We really need that moonlight to do the float!
* Maximum number of participants will be less than daytime floats, so make your reservations early.
* Participants are required to each have a headlamp or a good flashlight for this night trip. Here's an opportunity to shop our local Wilderness Adventure outfitters in Staunton, who generously sponsor FOMR's work each year by selling our raffle tickets at their downtown store!
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| FOMR is piloting a new River
Access Program with monthly float trips covering a variety of stretches of the
Middle River in Augusta County. The goal of offering these trips is to
familiarize participants with different boatable sections of the river and the
available put-in and take-out sites that participants can use in the future if
they join FOMR's River Access Program.
Read more and
see the full schedule of 2018 float trips HERE. |
| | | Splash 'n Dash
Canoe and Kayak Races
Sunday, August 5, 2018 12:00-5:00 pm Location: 21
Stiegel Lane, Ft. Defiance, VA
Join us for a fun, wet, splashy summer afternoon weaving down a course of five buoys, then racing straight back upstream on a stretch of Middle River, in our annual kayak/canoe race. It's a double elimination competition which means racers will compete in a minimum of two races, so you are bound to get wet if you want to! This is a great race for kids, too -- a great outdoor family event!
Register to race in advance by emailing info@friendsofthemiddleriver.org or calling 540-609-8267.
Or, just come watch, hoot and holler as a spectator!
Watch our previous Splash 'n Dash--the movies: P.S. We are seeking a volunteer videographer(s) to create a video of this year's happenings! Could that be you?
And, yes, the above photo is of a previous Splash champion, known 'round these parts only as "Muddy Duck."
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| Middle River Cleanup Week
Save the date:
We will very soon be announcing more details about our annual cleanup of
trash from the Middle River. Teams will clean the river during the week
of August 13-19.
(Raindate is Aug. 20-26th). It's not too early, though, to let us know
if you or a team of friends you put together are interested, and if you
have a canoe or will need one to borrow. Contact us at info@friendsofthemiddleriver.org.
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| Great News:
Middle River is
Definitely Cleaner
The following is an excerpt of a column written by guest columnist, Bobby Whitescarver, which ran in The Staunton News Leader on May 26, 2018.
We can finally celebrate some long-awaited good news about Middle River.Twenty-three miles of the river in
Augusta County were recently taken off Virginia’s “Dirty Waters List.”
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality de-listed the segment of
the river near Frank’s Mill northwest of Staunton and extending to near
New Hope because it now meets state standards for both E. coli and
sediment.
The amazing improvements on
the Middle River benefit everyone in Augusta who fishes, paddles, and
swims its waters. This is thanks to a coordinated effort. All of us have
been working to remove this river, and many others, from the dirty
waters list for decades. It takes everyone—from improving sewage
treatment, to farmers planting cover crops and fencing cows out of
streams, to rain barrels and storm water retention.
Read the full article HERE. |
| E.coli Testing Results: June
Click HERE to see the E. coli data monitored this month. Of sites monitored,10 of the 14 were in the unacceptable range, but at least this is a slight improvement from May's figures. What causes there to be E.coli in the Middle River? Cows who have access to wade in the river and creeks. But remember, pet waste is another measureable contributor to E.coli in Virginia waterways. So keep picking up after your dog!
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| Fish School
Largemouth vs. Smallmouth Bass
Summer fishing season is prime time to study up on two of the most popular sport fishes of
the Middle River: largemouth and smallmouth bass! Both are in the sunfish family—Centrarchidae— and are considered “black basses.” (There is another
family— Moronidae— of temperate
basses that include white perch, striped bass and white bass—but they are not
in Middle River). All sunfish family fish have a distinguishing feature of
their dorsal fin –the fin on top of their back—that separates them from other families
of fish. Their dorsal fins are spiny and rigid on the half closest to the head,
and the half closest to the tail is soft.
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| Win This Kayak!
The 2018 FOMR Raffle Ticket sales season is in full swing!
3 tickets for $5
Win These Top Prizes
Tarpon 100 Kayak and Paddle
Guided Fly-fishing Trip with Justin Fischbach
$50 Gift Certificate to Wilderness Adventure in Staunton, 50 Middlebrook Ave., Staunton, VA. (540-885-3200).
Tickets on sale now at Wilderness Adventure, 50 Middlebrook Ave., Staunton, VA. (540-885-3200) until September 9th when the winners will be drawn. Tickets also available from: - any FOMR board member
- any of our upcoming events (any float trip, Splash 'n Dash, Wharf Rat Music and Art Festival, FriendsFest)
- email at info@friendsofthemiddleriver.org
- calling 540-609-8267
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| Pipeline Water Quality Monitoring
Join our friends at Trout Unlimited and Wild Virginia for a live, interactive webinar about
how to detect and report water quality impacts from natural gas
pipelines! A member of Trout Unlimited will be presenting the webinar
and taking questions from attendees.
At this event, co-hosted by Appalachian Voices, attendees will learn to
identify, document and report pollution incidents associated with
large-scale pipeline development. Volunteers will learn about erosion
control best management practices used in pipeline development, specific
examples of pollution to look for, and how to best document those
problems.
The event will take place at the Staunton Public Library, on Monday, July 30, at 6:30 p.m. Free snacks will be provided!
Register for this free event HERE.
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| | Mark your Calendars!
July
Jul 17 Headwaters
SWCD meeting Jul 24 FOMR Board Meeting
Jul 28 Full Moon Night Float Trip Jul 30 Interactive Webinar: Water Quality
Monitoring and Pipelines (see above)
August
Aug 5 Splash 'n Dash Canoe/Kayak Race Aug 13-19 Middle River Cleanup Week
Aug 18 Wharf Rat Music and Art Festival
Aug 26 Fishing Float Trip
Print out your 2018 FOMR Event calendar HERE.
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FOMR is a Paddle America Club
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| Read more about Friends of the Middle River at our website HERE.
540-609-8267
P.O. Box 131, Verona VA, 24482
FOMR is a 501(c)(3) organization.
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