Subject: There's a lot going on! May news...

SAFETY

Don't Learn Safety by Accident


John Bauman (Vice President of Friends of the Middle River) writes: "I want you to experience your river in a way that will bring you back and back again. To accomplish this, you must feel and be safe as you enjoy her gentle falling to the sea. As most of you know, Middle River is a beautiful little river with mostly class one and a few class two rapids. She is not very deep or swift, and in most places, you can easily get to shore if you get separated from your boat. While this is reassuring, it can give you a false sense of safety, especially if you are not aware of other hazards that could potentially harm you or others. With that in mind, I have written this article to share what I know about safety concepts and best practices when floating the Middle River." Read more HERE.

Your Safety: Lightning when Paddling

Sunny hot days can make for pop-up thunderstorms. What should you do if you are on the river and a lightning storm comes up? The following safety protocol is an excerpt from We Love Watersports. Read it HERE.



Pandemic Surge in Paddling,

But Also in Paddling Fatalities


From Water Sports Foundation Press Release: A record 37.9 million participants engaged in paddlesports like kayaking, canoeing and stand-up paddleboarding during the pandemic according to the latest data (2020) from the Outdoor Foundation. This pandemic surge brought an estimated 2.5 million new paddlers to American waterways. However, it increased accidents... and fatalities. Data tells us most accidents happen in flatwater due to falling overboard or capsizing,” said Pope. “Untrained paddlers usually don’t know how to get back in once they’ve fallen out, aren’t wearing a life jacket and aren’t prepared for cold water exposure.


Read the full article from Paddling Magazine HERE.

Free Online Paddle Sports Safety Course


BOATERExam.com offers a free online course suitable for new paddlers interested in an introduction to basic paddling skills and safety. It takes about 1-2 hours to complete at your own pace. You can save your work and come back to work on it in sections.


The above picture is a quiz from the course about the standard accepted practices of paddle signals to communicate with others on the river. Do you know them all? Answers are at the end of this newsletter!

Stewardship

Lewis Creek Cleanup

 Call for Volunteers

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF - www.cbf.org) has been conducting annual Clean the Bay Days in and around the Bay area for many years and more recently is also reaching out to headwater areas like Staunton, to encourage us to clean OUR local waters, before they get to the Bay.  During the upcoming first week of June, FOMR is joining local volunteers from the City of Staunton's Lewis Creek Watershed Advisory Committee, Shenandoah Green, JMU Valley Scholars, Tiger Solar (formerly Altenergy), and Skyline Rotary Club, to form a combined 2022 Staunton Clean the Bay Day Team. Lewis Creek the urban tributary of Middle River.


Want to join the team? Pick a day below to volunteer!


Thursday, June 2, 9am-12pm            Asylum Creek (Greenville Ave. area)


Starting at Bessie Weller Elementary, and walking/wading downstream to The Villages.  We'll then all walk back across Greenville Avenue around noon, and gather informally for lunch on the patio at Wright's Dairy Rite.  This cleanup event will initially be staffed by JMU Valley Scholars, with their chaperones, plus anyone else who wants to volunteer.


Friday, June 3, 2022, 9am-12pm   

     

Starting at Columbia Gas on Coalter Street, and walking/wading downstream past Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (VSDB), and also starting at New Hope Road at Commerce Street, and walking/wading back upstream by VSDB.  This clean-up will initially be staffed by Friends of the Middle River (FOMR) volunteers, plus Tiger Solar Installers, plus anyone else who wants to volunteer.


Saturday, June 4, 9am-12pm        


Starting near the entrance to Gypsy Hill Park, near the bandstand, and walking/wading upstream throughout Gypsy Hill Park, this clean-up will initially be staffed by Skyline Rotary Club, plus anyone else who wants to volunteer.  We'll then all gather immediately after, around noon, at the western end pavilion, near State Farm's office on Churchville Avenue, for a Staunton Team picnic, organized by Skyline Rotary Club.


All teams will need trash “picker-uppers” and a few "data scribes." Three-to-five folks picking up trash will be joined by a “scribe” who is armed with a clipboard and a clean-up datasheet, recording what trash is picked up with simple tally marks on the datasheets.  All of our trash collection data will then be tabulated and uploaded to regional and national clean-up data websites.


Please register in advance on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's "Clean the Bay Day" website HERE  On the last question of the signup form, specify which of the three Staunton cleanups you wish to attend.  Thanks! 

Above: 2019 Asylum Creek Team, Chesapeake Bay Day Cleanup

RECREATION

Registration is Open

Fishing Paddle Trip


Date:  Saturday, June 11, 2022

Put in between: 9:00- 9:30am

Approximate length of trip: 3.2 miles, 4 hours

River: Middle River, approx. mile 5.5 to mile 2.3

Cost: free

(Backup Raindate: Sunday, June 12 )


DESCRIPTION

This will be a SELF-GUIDED float trip, which means you will not be paddling in an arranged group, but FOMR will facilitate organizing for the access and assist at the put-in.


This is a little shorter trip, so there will be a lot of time for taking it slow and stopping to fish. There will be a few riffles. There are channels you will need to navigate, but they are easy. This is a pretty trip with farmland on both sides of the river.


PARTICIPANTS will:

• provide your own boats, paddles, fishing gear and required life vests and whistles/horns

• provide your own shuttle of your vehicle


More info and register HERE!

Above: David Hennel paddles in as the official inaugural paddler!

New South River Public Access


A new public river access site was unveiled late last month at a ribbon-cutting on South River at Dooms-- the first public access in Augusta County! Five years in the making, this site also benefits from the upstream dam being partially removed. Augusta County is planning to add another South River access at Crimora which will make for some extended local paddling options. There is a short walk down the gravel path from the parking to this put-in at Dooms just out of sight in the above photo. Address: 43 Dooms Crossing Rd.

EDUCATION

Above: Pete Cooper and Jeanine Botkin show live insects and fish.

Recap: Earth Day Staunton with Kites & Critters


If you were one of the 600+ people attending or involved with celebrating Staunton Earth Day this year, we thank you for making this one special! Beautiful venue at the Ford Farm, perfect weather, great exhibitors, wind for the kites, yummy local food and great shows made this event particularly festive. You can view a slide show of photos HERE.


Then, the following week, Riverfest also racked up high attendance. Thank you to the many FOMR volunteers that made these two good public education and fundraising events so successful this year!

SCIENCE

April's E. coli Report


Well, it finally happened - elevated E. coli levels in the section of the river we have been testing for the past 9 months or so! We had a significant rain/snow event that triggered this-- a rain total of greater than 1 inch at all sites. Looking back over our seven years of river data, significant E. coli level elevations occur primarily with rain events as opposed to being associated with particular months or seasons. See the data monthly HERE.

2022 Raffle


A generous donor has added an additional prize to this year's FOMR raffle fundraiser-- an inflatable Stand Up Paddleboard! The first prize winner will get to choose between a

  • a kayak, Yellowfin Vibe Wildfire 100, 10’, Seat and Paddle or

  • a paddleboard, Body Glove Performer Inflatable, 11-foot Stand Up Paddleboard Package

The second prize winner gets the kayak or paddleboard, whichever is not chosen by the first prize winner.

Read about all the raffle prizes and purchase tickets HERE! 

Current River Access Program Booklet: Version 3/10/22

Up and Coming!

May


24 FOMR Board Meeting (Open to all: Email if you'd like to attend!)


June


2-4 Chesapeake Bay Day, Local Lewis Creek Cleanup

11 Fishing Paddle Trip

11 Fish Day! FOMR Education at the Shenandoah Valley Campground

21 FOMR River Education Event at Churchville Library

24-26 FOMR at Red Wing Roots

28 FOMR Board Meeting (Open to all: Email if you'd like to attend!)

Quiz answers from BOATERexam.com

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Friends of the Middle River

P.O. Box 131,

Verona, VA 24482

540-609-8267

Web: www.friendsofthemiddleriver.org

Email: info@friendsofthemiddleriver.org

Friends of the Middle River, PO Box 131, Verona, Virginia 24482, United States

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