June 14, 2008
Washington River Festival and Missouri River Clean-up '08
Washington Riverfront Park, Washington, MO
Missouri River Clean-up
As soon as the word came in that the lower parking lot at Washington
Riverfront Park was going to be flooded during the weekend of our
scheduled clean-up, we realized we had to cancel the event.
With no space left to stage a public clean-up and essentially no banks
to drop volunteers off on to clean-up, we made a decision. We cancelled
the public volunteer clean-up event but vowed to put our trained crew
out on the river to pick up what floating trash we could from our
boats.
Because the River Festival was located on higher ground, it could go on
as planned. Our clean-up would become part of the whole festival
atmosphere, and folks on bankside could get a hint of what kind of junk
was floating by as they marvelled at the flooding river.
We attacked the river in force, with our two plate boats and one of our
Bass Trackers. Each boat was supplied with nets, tools and even frog
gigs and a harpoon. Boats would nose into drift piles while all on
board would net, scoop, spear and grab all the trash in reach. Coast
Guard buoys were towed into shore and a refrigerator was hoisted over
the gunwales on board.
Working from the boats, we covered some serious miles...15.4 in all. It
was a productive haul for so few workers, while crews of kids walked
the park picking up bags of trash and recycling them.
Washington River Festival
Soon after Washington high school teacher Mike Smith and Missouri
River Relief decided on a date for a Washington clean-up, Mike’s friend
Gloria floated the idea of a River Festival. She had in mind a day to
not just clean-up the river, but to celebrate the river through
education and music.
And she took off from there! The festival included educational exhibits
on Missouri River history, biology and ecology and advocacy. Kid’s
activities drew in the children to thinking about fish, the river and
their place in it all. Music, much of it centered on the river or in
engaging the audience (especially children), flowed all day long. The
event kicked off with a presentation by the World Bird Sanctuary, with
owls, hawks and turkey vultures present to give the audience a close-up
view of what they ordinarily see high in the sky above.
Local vendors participated in an experiment for the city of Washington:
create as much of a “trash-less” event as possible. Plastic, glass and
aluminum were recycled. Vendors were required to use corn-starch-based
biodegradable plates and containers (supplied by Gloria and the
festival). These were collected separately to be composted at a local
tree farm.
The mission of the festival was to engage a diverse citizenry in a
celebration of a natural resource that is integral to the history of
Washington, but is not often celebrated.
Once again, a Missouri River Relief Clean-up (even one ultimately
cancelled by that same river’s whims) provided a networking opportunity
for river lovers to create something even bigger.
Festival Exhibitors
Area High School Students
Washington Historical Society
Washington Public Library
The Greenway Network
Leftovers, etc.
St. Louis/Midwest Turtle & Tortoise Society
Hillerman’s Nursery & Florist
The Open Space Council
US Geological Survey
Missouri Master Naturalists
Missouri Water Patrol
Missouri River Relief
Botanical Walk with Bill Davit
Shaw Nature Reserve
Bourbeuse Stream Team #3
Festival Entertainment
World Bird Sanctuary
River Songs
Babaloo
Greg Krone, Wayne Roy & Ginny Blankenship
Augusta Bottoms Consort