Dear Members and Friends: |
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Welcome summer! All of us here at the Watershed Alliance are looking forward to our busiest season.
First, I would like to thank all the volunteers who came out to help make our Electronics Recycling and Beach Clean-Up events so successful this spring.
We are also grateful to all who have renewed their memberships - if you have not had a chance yet, you can easily do so online or by returning your membership envelope.
Please join us on June 4 for a Family Fun Day and Open House at the River Center, from 10 am to 2 pm. The Alliance will be opening the doors of the River Center to showcase the attractions in our education center. Visitors can use the virtual reality sand table, view the aquariums with native fish and other aquatic creatures, and examine specimens with the high powered microscope. The pollinator gardens will be in full bloom, and WRWA staff will be seining in the River to see what is happening below the surface.
The Toe Jam Puppet Band will be performing June 4th at the Westport Public Library at 10 am. Young children enjoy this entertaining duo. Admission is Free for these events.
Meanwhile, Osprey Sea and Surf Adventures will conduct a guided kayak excursion from Hix Bridge up to the Head of Westport starting at 9 am. For more information, contact them at 508-636-0300 or at www.ospreyseaandsurf.com. Rent a kayak for $60, or take part in the guided trip with your own kayak for $30. $20 benefits the Watershed Alliance.
Each Saturday in June, you can join us for Experience WOW - The Wonders of the Watershed, a series of outdoor activities to celebrate National Rivers Month. The events are part of a series highlighting the natural beauty and recreational enjoyment the Westport River Watershed provides. Activities include bird watching, hiking the dunes at Cherry & Webb and to the Headwaters of the Westport River. Please see the posters below for more details in this River News.
We are also very excited that we will be presenting both our annual Summer Concert featuring Livingston Taylor on July 9th (rain date July 10) at Westport Rivers Vineyard, and our popular Summer Gala on August 13.
Proceeds from these events and activities benefit WRWA’s science and education programs. WRWA’s mission: Working together to protect and preserve the Westport River watershed now and for future generations.
Hope to see you soon at our many upcoming events!
Deborah
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WRWA Gives Thanks to Outgoing Board Members
We thank these 3 remarkable people for their commitment and support of the work of the Alliance.
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Dale Weber: Dale received a BS in Nursing from Boston University and worked as a nurse for many years. She retired from a Human Service field career as therapist, community/public school liaison, administrator, and program developer. In her life before Westport, she served as an Previous life in Metro West; as elected Town Meeting member, Social Action Committee Chair, Special Needs Career Counselor, developed cultural & enrichment activities for the public schools. Dale is an avid organic gardener and strong supporter of responsible environmental stewardship.
Dale served on the WRWA Board for over 9 years. She was an active member of the Advocacy Committee for all of her service. Dale was a tireless volunteer for many events including the Gala and her oversight of the River Day vendors, which grew to encompass over 40 organizations and vendors under her leadership. In her last year on the Board she was the observer of the BOS meetings and made monthly reports to the Advocacy Committee.
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Linda Findlay: Linda spent her career in government relations in Washington, DC. She worked in the United States Senate for over 15 years, primarily on environmental issues. In 1992, she accepted a job running the Washington DC office for Phelps Dodge Corporation. She retired in 2009 and continued working as a government relations consultant until 2011.
Linda was a 9 year member of the Board, serving as Development Chair, VP for Development (where she oversaw the successful Capitol Campaign for the River Center) and she spent her last year as the Board President.
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Tom Robinson: Tom received his B.A. in Economics, at the University of Michigan; M.F.S. from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and his J.D. law degree from Boston University. He retired as Deputy General Counsel Chief regulatory lawyer of National Grid.
Tom served on the Board for 9 years, as Secretary for 3 years, and as the Chair of the Search Committee for a new Executive Director in 2015, and was co-chair the Gala Committee for the past two years.
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Thank You Electronics Recycling Volunteers
We had another big turnout for for our spring electronics recycling day in April. To date, this twice-annual event has saved over 42,000 lbs. of old equipment from the landfill, with all materials going to qualified recyclers. Thank you to our volunteers, pictured above, for helping to make the event go smoothly.
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Westport River Watershed Alliance Merit Award Winners Announced |
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The Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) has been awarding a merit scholarship for graduating seniors living in the watershed for over 23 years. The merit award offers an opportunity for WRWA to honor students who have demonstrated their concern to protect our watershed environment.
Through generous donations over the last few years, WRWA has been able to award two scholarships to local students. WRWA is fortunate to have additional funds this year to give out a $1,500 first place award and a $500 second place award for two deserving applicants.
This year’s merit award winners are Madison Benson for the first place award and Evan Garcia for the second place award. Madison Benson is senior from Westport High School and plans to attend Salve Regina University in the fall to study environmental science. Evan Garcia is a Dartmouth High School senior who has been accepted into the College of the Holy Cross to study political science and pursue a career as a lawyer who will assist with environmental conservation.
The Westport River Watershed Alliance Merit Award was created to celebrate the lives of William and Ruth Heath and Margo C. Boote. William and Ruth Heath were committed to environmental issues and protection of the natural world, as well as to social justice and global peace and harmony. Margo C. Boote was very involved in her community and the world around her. She not only portrayed an active commitment to the environmental mission in her actions, but also had a deep spiritual connection with the environment as was shown in her poetry.
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Thanks to beach clean up volunteers |
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Thanks to all the volunteers who helped out at our spring beach clean-up at the Town Beach in early May. |
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Livingston Taylor to perform at WRWA Summer Concert July 9
Our 6th Annual Summer Concert at Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery will be happening on Saturday, July 9, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. We are pleased to be hosting singer/songwriter Livingston Taylor to entertain us all with songs and stories. This will be a must-see concert with one of New England's premiere musicians.
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Help the Westport River and Save Money With These
Ten Yard Care Tips
by Roberta Carvalho, WRWA Science Director
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Everyone wants a nice looking yard and pleasant landscaping. You can save money and minimize impacts to surface waters, wetlands, groundwater, and the environment at the same time. Stop using store bought fertilizers and pesticides in your yard. Let’s start with some hard facts.
FACT: The poisons you put on your lawn to kill bugs and weeds will get into the water we drink. Pesticides and herbicides travel from your lawns and gardens and contaminate our water with chemicals that are toxic to both humans and animals. These chemicals travel into water sources as surface runoff or by leaching into the groundwater.
FACT: Chemical lawn fertilizers do not stay on your lawn. The nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizers travel great distances and end up in the groundwater we drink and in waterbodies like streams and the Westport River. Nitrogen and phosphorus are very harmful to our water.
FACT: Fertilizers that reach the water can kill fish, shellfish and aquatic vegetation. Once the nutrients from fertilizer enter a water body, they dramatically increase the growth of algae. Algae blocks sunlight from entering the water and leads to the death of other important aquatic vegetation. Decaying algae decreases the oxygen available to fish. Eventually the fish die. Decaying algae also kills shellfish and other bottom dwelling species because it settles on the bottom and suffocates whatever lives there.
Here are a few things you can do to help.
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Call for Photo Entries -
2023 WRWA Calendar Contest - Deadline is July 1
The Watershed Alliance is calling for entries for the annual photo contest for the 2023 calendar. We are accepting landscape and nature photos that show the unique beauty and diversity of the Westport River watershed . Photos from all seasons are being sought, limit 5 photos per person.
- Pictures should be submitted as JPG's.
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Image size should be no smaller than 10 x 8 inches (pixel dimensions 3000 x 2400).
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Image resolution should be 300 dpi or greater, file size 1MB or greater.
- Deadline for image submission is July 1, 2022.
Each image should be given a title by the artist and the name of the image file should match the image title. The artist should also include their name, so that they can be credited in the calendar. Image submissions can be emailed to outreach@wrwa.com.
By sending in your pictures you are allowing WRWA to use your pictures to inspire the appreciation and celebration of Westport’s beautiful estuary. WRWA is grateful for the talents of local photographers who share their wonderful photographs annually for the popular calendar, which also features charts of the tides throughout the year.
Our members will choose the winners on-line, as we did so successfully the last two years.
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Thank You to our 2022 Corporate Sponsors |
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