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Cross Currents
September 2016
Message from the Director

As we head into autumn and the days grow a little shorter and the nights a little longer, we at the Conservancy are just ramping up for another busy season. For us, the next eight weeks hold four large pieces of our yearly calendar.

Leading off the season is our Botany by Boat paddling trip at Green Lane Park.
If
ryan paddling
you like plants and paddling, try both in this exciting field outing conducted by Susan Mrugal of Temple University. The trip takes place on Saturday, September 10 from
9 am to 12 pm
. Bring your own boat or rent one from us. We have canoes on hand and have partnered with Eastern Mountain Sports to bring you kayaks and stand up paddle boards! That's right - now you can paddle board your way around the plant-filled shores of Green Lane Reservoir.

Our biggest event of the fall season is our benefit dinner. "A Night for Conservation:
To Benefit the Perkiomen Watershed
"
will take place on Thursday, October 13 from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. The benefit will be held at the RiverCrest Golf Club and Preserve. Please join us on this evening to celebrate the Perkiomen watershed and honor some of our community's leading environmental advocates.

Surrounding these two key events are over a dozen environmental education outings with our local schools and four major tree plantings along our creeks and streams. Plus, you may be wondering what the mysterious videos are about... the Conservancy will announce our next big project later this fall! Stay tuned and consider joining in the excitement by becoming a member.


Thanks and see you OUTSIDE!!

Ryan Beltz 
Announcing the 2016 Environmental Award Recipients!

It is our great pleasure to award the following for their outstanding contributions of time, talent and resources to protecting or restoring the Perkiomen Creek Watershed:

Advocate of the Watershed
National Charity League

Kids Making a Difference
Key Club - Perkiomen Valley High School

Land Use
Meadowood Senior Living

Teaching Excellence
Rachel Gallagher

Friend of the Watershed
Audubon Women's Club

Corporate
Sustainable Waste Solutions
Join us for a night of celebrating these award recipients  
and the Perkiomen Creek Watershed!

 
 
Tickets on sale now
 
Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction:
 
Thursday, October 13, 2016 
5:30 - 9:00 pm 
RiverCrest Golf Club and Preserve  



As part of the annual Benefit, the Silent Auction is one of the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy's major fundraisers of the year. Proceeds support our stream clean-ups, stream bank restorations, environmental education classes and more.

 
New for 2016:
Businesses donating an item(s) with a retail value of $50 and above will get a PWC Facebook post and your business name (hyperlinked) on our PWC Partnership webpage.  At $100 and above, you will receive the same and a complimentary PWC Business Membership ($100 value). 


Environmental Education Volunteer Day!

On Wednesday September 14th, we will be having a volunteer work day to complete various projects in support of the Conservancy's environmental education classes and programs. 

hands
Projects include preparing craft materials for students, copying and bundling post trip materials to go home with students and general organizing and clean-up of the Children's Discovery room and library.

We will start at 10 am and
finish up no later than 2 pm. 


We hope you can join us to give us a hand and enjoy the company of other volunteers!  We will plan to break for lunch around 11:30, so please bring your brown bag lunch and we can picnic together! 

If interested, please RSVP to Linda Oltman at loltman@perkiomenwatershed.org


Compost Station for the Conservancy

Thanks to a DEP Environmental Education grant, the Conservancy will be installing a compost station on our property this fall!  Backyard composting has
a variety of advantages
from which all homeowners could benefit. Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of garbage and waste your household
composting
produces. It returns vital nutrients to the soil, increasing plant growth and health. Lastly, composting allows you to use less water because it improves the soil's water retention ability. Not only does this benefit your budget, but it also reduces stormwater runoff because more water is being absorbed into the ground.

This compost station will not only benefit the Conservancy but it will also serve as a demonstration piece for homeowners who are interested in learning more about composting on their own property. A Composting Workshop will be held at the Conservancy in the spring covering the basics of composting and how to get started.

But before installing the compost bins on our property, we would like to hear from you!  If you compost at home please take a moment to complete a brief survey below to tell us a little bit about your composting experience. The results from this survey will help us to decide what bins to purchase and where to locate them on our property.  Thank you in advance for your help, stay tuned for updates on this exciting new project.

For more information, contact our Conservation Coordinator, Jessie Kemper   

Upper Perk Bird & Wildlife Festival - PWC Volunteers Wanted!

PWC attends a variety of events throughout the year to promote its environmental education, watershed conservation, and community outreach programs. One of our favorite events is the 6th Annual Upper Perkiomen Bird & Wildlife Festival at Green Lane Park on Saturday, September 24. The Conservancy will have a display at this fun family event, and we are looking for a crew of volunteers to man our table.

We expect a crowd of PWC-friendly people to attend the festival, which is free to the community. It is sure to be a learning-filled day with lots of information on birds and birdwatching, live animals, a honey bee demo, monarch butterfly tagging, activities for children, hayrides and more!

Don't miss the opportunity to be part of this great event.

Volunteers are needed starting at 9:30 a.m. to help set up our table, with shifts available until the festival ends at 3 p.m.

Sign up online
to hand out brochures and answer questions from table visitors. It's guaranteed they will be eager to hear all about what we have to offer.


Over 50 riders enjoyed riding along the Perkiomen Creek with the annual Perk to Pub ride. Thank you to all participants, Sponsors and volunteers for making the first ever Perk to Pub bicycle adventure a huge success! 
Did you miss the Perk to Pub?  Check out the video and join us next year!



Remember to sign up and join us ...

Explore the wildflowers, trees, ferns and aquatic plants that call Montgomery County's Green Lane Reservoir "home" with Susan Mrugal, an adjunct professor at Temple University, Ambler Campus.
   
Come out and join us for a leisurely wildflower walk with PWC Guide Link Davis! 
Walks are free.  No preregistration required.

Sign-ups are now open for the fall Stream Clean-up!  
Thank you to our
Protectors of the Perkiomen
Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy I 610.287.9383 I perkiomenwatershed.org
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