Rain Location: American Legion, 357 Cedar Green Rd, Staunton, VA 24401
Bring: A side dish, drinks, plates, cups and utensils. Plus a chair or blanket.
For those of you who may be new to FriendsFest, it is our annual celebration of the Middle River and you, the Friends of the Middle River! During the picnic, we will draw the winning raffle tickets. Two lucky folks will leave with a grand prize of either a new kayak or stand-up inflatable paddle board. There will also be many more raffle prizes drawn for those in attendance. You will have an opportunity to hear about our stewardship efforts from the past year and any new activities in the pipeline – new volunteer opportunities with FOMR are always available.
Additional Info: Please bring your own plates, cups, and utensils. FOMR will provide BBQ, buns, and sauces. This is a potluck picnic, so please bring a side dish to share. We will have sister organizations in attendance that will also provide additional local conservation information you may find useful.
P.S. There's still plenty of time to enter our 2025 raffle -- be sure to get your tickets (if you haven't already) at this link here.
Our 2025 Raffle Prizes: a Pelican Argo 100X Sit-In Kayak and a SereneLife Inflatable Stand-Up Paddle Board.
Sign up for a Middle River Cleanup Day
It's time for our annual Middle River Cleanups!
We have two cleanup events scheduled: one occurring this Saturday, September 6th and another on Saturday, September 20th.
Our next FOMR Float Trip will be Saturday, September 27th and the theme is Family Fun!
If this sounds like a trip you'd like to join, please email info@friendsofthemiddleriver.org with the subject "September 27th Float."
Thanks, Timmons Group!
Many thanks to the 12 volunteers from the Staunton Timmons Group office who partnered with us for a cleanup on August 21st from Limestone Road to Bald Rock! The river was impressively clean, with a total of 8 tires recovered. Interesting river artifacts discovered included a Samsung TV, a TJ Maxx shopping cart, and a parking meter head. (The shopping cart was returned to TJ Maxx.)
Support FOMR
In case you missed it -- in April, we rolled out a brand-new way to support Friends of the Middle River in 2025!
Like you, we’d rather be paddling than putting stamps on envelopes and pestering you for money, so we’re excited to create an easier way for you to show your support. With YOUR help, our river-themed supporter program - ranging from our Riffle tier at $30 to our Watershed tier at $240 - will help us continue and even expand our work. Our local community has always played an essential part in our organization’s ability to be the voice of Middle River - YOU are Friends of the Middle River. We’re looking forward to the ways in which this new supporter program will help us to continue to connect and grow locally.
Please check out our FAQs on our "Join FOMR" landing page to learn more about how our new model works and become a Supporter. And we hope to see you on the water!!
Ready to support us? Click the "support" button below!
Maybe we met you at a festival recently or you saw us on the local news, but you still wish you knew more about our organization... First of all, welcome! And just so you know, we do have a slightly more detailed sign-up form that tells us some more about you - like any potential volunteer interests you might have - and also gives you the chance to sign up for our River Access Program.
