| ​ When:  Saturday, April 27, 2024 from 10am-4pm. Where: Constitution Park South, Waynesboro, VA. What: FOMR will be hosting an aquatic insect activity riverside and have a table in the tent. This is always a fun spring event!
​
2024 is the Year of the Eastern Screech Owl at Riverfest! Programs and activities start at 10am and continue throughout the day. This FREE annual event takes place river-side at Constitution Park South in Waynesboro, VA. Activities include Reptile World shows, presentations by the Wildlife Center of Virginia, Stream Safari exploration, Fish and Fun Rodeo, canoe rides, kids arts & crafts, interactive exhibits, and more. The day ends with the Great South River Duck Race! Rain or Shine – No Pets Allowed | | Volunteer Appreciation: Festival Helpers | | One way that FOMR strives to educate the public about rivers is through our participation at various public festivals throughout the year such as Earth Day Staunton, Riverfest, Red Wing Roots and others. We set up tables and exhibits and staff the event table to engage people in talking about all-things-river! We are always seeking volunteer folks to take a shift of a couple of hours to hang out and sell merchandise or talk about the work we do. For environmental festivals, we often have a live insect demo. Many hands certainly make for lighter work and we are grateful for the 26 volunteers who made these festival events happen in the past year. | | | | FOMR Float trips for 2024 will begin in May. We are excited! Please be on the lookout for location, time, and other details in our May newsletter. We are so lucky to have this beautiful river running through our communities. Please come out and enjoy it. By the way, if you want to help the float trip team or just participate in our floats, please contact Mason Kilbourn at mknly4g49@hotmail.com or Don Kain at dgkain@hotmail.com. On a related matter, and not just for FOMR members: There is a “Middle River Paddlers” group on the web that you might want to check out and use. This forum allows area paddlers to link and share useful information, including river conditions, notices of paddlers seeking others to join on floats, gear availability, etc. You will see that there has been little recent activity on the site, but we hope that sharing notices such as this one will “awaken” the community and allow the resource to be used and reach area paddlers. It is found at https://groups.io/g/MiddleRiverPaddlers. | | Benthic Monitoring Information Session | | There will be a benthic monitoring demonstration and information session on Jennings Branch (tributary of MR) on Sunday, May 19th at 1:00 pm. If anyone is curious about what benthic monitoring is, why we do it, and how it works, this would be a good chance to find out and try your hand at it. This will also be a good opportunity to meet Kelli Burnett, assistant program manager, and some of the benthic team. FOMR’s Benthic Monitoring Program collects aquatic bugs (macroinvertebrates) from the Middle River and assesses river health by comparing bugs tolerant of pollution with those less tolerant. It’s fun and vital to FOMR’s stewardship of the Middle River. There will be pizza afterwards. | | Join Lewis Creek Watershed Advisory Committee for Clean the Bay Day 2024! | | Lewis Creek Watershed Advisory Committee (LCWAC) runs the annual Clean the Bay Day event for the City of Staunton. This year's event is scheduled for Saturday, June 1st, 2024. We will be conducting all of the cleanups from 10am to 12 Noon at multiple locations. Here is a list of cleanup locations for that day: (1) Gum Springs in GHP - Skyline Rotary working with JMU Valley Scholars. (2) Asylum Creek from Bessie Weller to the Villages - Staunton Rotary. (3) Buttermilk Spring along Peck and Stuart Streets, adjacent to the Jones Garden - YMCA Youth Volunteer Corps. (4) Lewis Creek, along the entire length of the VSDB property, from Kalorama to New Hope Road - Shenandoah Club for the Deaf. (5) Lewis Creek, along Commerce Drive, from Columbia Gas to New Hope Road (same stretch of creek - just on the other side) - FOMR. Following all of the cleanups that morning, ALL of the groups are then invited to the meet together at the picnic tables at the west of GHP at Noon, for a pizza lunch, provided by Skyline Rotary. If you would like to join the FOMR group in cleaning up Lewis Creek along Commerce Drive, please let Savannah know at watershedcoordinator.fomr@gmail.com. | | | Spotlight on a Conservation Partner: Valley Conservation Council This month Taylor Evans has written the following to introduce our members to a partner organization of Friends of the Middle River: Valley Conservation Council.
“Valley Conservation Council has worked for more than 30 years to permanently protect
the farms, forests, and waterway of the Shenandoah Valley. Over those three decades we have helped to protect tens of thousands of acres from subdivision and development in the greater Shenandoah Valley region. We envision a region defined by spectacular open spaces, verdant fields and pastures, pristine water, productive soils, abundant biodiversity, unique geology, and lush forests. We have been an accredited land trust since 2019 and act as a partner in helping landowners permanently protect their land. We work with landowners to develop permanent agreements that guide those protection efforts and ensure that those agreements are followed in perpetuity, no matter who owns their land in the future. People can connect with us about preserving their land or to talk about areas in need of preservation. We enjoy speaking with those of all stripes: farmers, hunters, hikers, bikers, all are welcome to discuss how we can protect this spectacular region we call Executive Director: Peter Hujik – Peter@valleyconservation.org For easement inquiries: Taylor Evans – Taylor@valleyconservation.org General Inquiries: Tanya Bickerstaff – Admin@Valleyconservation.org Valleyconservationcouncil.org | | Augusta County Annual Spring Clean-Up Event Saturday, April 20th through Saturday, April 27th, 2024 | | Spring Clean-Up is an opportunity for residents to safely dispose of large waste items, car tires, and appliances for free. The Augusta Regional Landfill will accept the following items: + Automotive Waste – Motor oil, transmission oil, hydraulic oil, lead-acid batteries, & antifreeze. + Gasoline or other hazardous materials will not be accepted. + Free Tire Disposal – 6 car tire limit per household. Fees will not be waived for tractor trailer tires. Tires on split rims or from businesses will not be accepted. Appliance Disposal Locations – Augusta Regional Landfill and dumpster locations: Crimora, Mt. Solon, and New Hope – no fees. Landfill accepts appliances free year round. No liquids (gas, oils, or hazardous materials) when dropped off. Local Ruritan clubs will be providing assistance to help make the operations at various locations go smoothly. Contact your local Ruritan club for more information. If individuals or organizations would like to volunteer for this event, please call 540-337-2857 or 540-245-5700. | | Current RAP Booklet Version: 02/26/24 | April
20 Earth Day Staunton, 11 AM to 3 PM
23 FOMR Board Meeting, 6:30 PM (All are welcome). 27 Riverfest in Waynesboro, 10 AM to 4 PM
May
19 Benthic Monitoring Event, 1 PM |
|
|
|
