Your Environment, Your Future
Sunpaint Quilt Raffle tickets.
There are two sunpaint quilts this year. Both will be raffled together to raise funds for invasive species education and clean water projects.
You can purchase tickets on-line.
Click here and type RAFFLE TICKETS in the box labelled company name.
Through the on-line system the minimum order is 12 tickets for $10.
You may also buy raffle tickets from any Greenway Network Board member. They are $1 each or 6 for $5.
The drawing for both quilts will be held at the Greenway Network Annual Meeting this Fall. You do not have to present to win.
Both quilts will be on display throughout the community:
Race for the Rivers Festival at Frontier Park in St Charles Sept 4
Email us at greenwaynetwork@gmail.com if you would like us to bring the quilts to your event or to put them on display.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RACE FOR THE RIVERS
SEPTEMBER 4-5 2010
REGISTER NOW
www.racefortherivers.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you JM Enterprise Workers!
Ms. Samantha Welch and Mr. Madison W. Banks III,
Director Corporate Giving St. Louis Philanthropy Committee
JM Family Enterprises, Inc. JM Family Enterprises
111 Jim Moran Blvd. 3120 Rider Trail
Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 Earth City, MO 63045
Dear Ms. Welch, Mr. Banks and the St. Louis Philanthropy Committee:
Thank you very much for the recent contribution of $300.00 to Earth Share of Missouri, to be shared with Greenway Network. Your gift will benefit some wonderful environmental programs, especially ones which are designed to help clean and preserve the health of the world around us, and actively engage people in getting out of doors and enjoying nature.
In appreciation of your support of programs that will improve the health of planet earth, and preserve it for future generations, we thank you and your co-workers.
Sincerely,
Greenway Network, Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenway Network volunteers and others worked in
the Nature Area, installing security cable to prevent off road access, general clean up, installing new signage, and other work.
Thanks to all for helping!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have a new home!
Greenway Network, Inc
215 Indacom Drive
St. Peters, MO 63376
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenway Network, Inc, Stream Team 463 and Brookside Environmental Services sponsor
Spring Dardenne Creek Monitoring Day
May 2nd, 2010
Greenway Network, Stream Team 463, sponsored another Spring Dardenne Day.
Through the years this program has provided an opportunity for local teachers, their students and Stream Team Volunteers to share their excitement for clean water by obtaining grab samples from about twenty sites along the 27 mile watershed. The samples were tested to determine dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, pH, turbidity, conductivity, Chloride, temperature, stream discharge and the presence of macro-invertebrates. The data gathered provided an excellent snapshot of the water quality of this stream. All information was shared with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Water Protection Program.
The site headquarters was again at Francis Howell High School. All those who participated brought their water data and a fresh, sterile, iced sample of Dardenne Creek water to the Francis Howell Environmental Studies lab.
All monitor volunteers practiced the best protocol as possible to preserve the integrity of all data collected. To help eliminate errors in collecting protocol, Greenway Network, Inc. asked that volunteer site leaders had Missouri Stream Team Monitoring training.
Snacks were available at 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Francis Howell. All participants enjoyed free eats & drinks courtesy of Brookside Environmental Services.
We want to thank the following volunteers: Scott Johnston, ST 375, Kim Garbs-ST 2126 and her Fort Zumwalt High students, Jordan Ebbsmeyer, Tanner Bross, Nathan Grabrthas, and Tim Obannon, Master Naturalist’s, ST 3612 Cliff Parmer, Claudia and John Kasten and Kay Labanca, Malcolm Royse ST 31, Gerry Boehm ST 396, Roger Eastman and his daughter Sarah Eastman of Francis Howell Central, Joe Brocksmith ST 374 Francis Howell North and his students, Chelsea Norman and Amanda DeJarnett, Darlene Haun, ST 1857, Katie Harris Bekalou ST 2537 and her daughter, Yasmine Bekaloua, Chris McCracken ST 1710, Quinn Corcoran ST 3778, Terry Locke, Stephanie Venker, Mary Mierkowski, Sam Berendzen, Greenway Network members ST 463, Jim Burris, Larry Ruff, Joan Twillman, Wayne Davis, Ron Williams, Michael Garvey and John McGuirk.
A special thanks go to the Francis Howell Central, Francis Howell North and Fort Zumwalt North students who did an outstanding job assisting us.
If you would like to participate in our Fall 2010 Dardenne Day let us know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Suburban Journal
Cleaning up our waterways
Volunteers pull trash, appliances out of streams
|
| Roy Sykes photo - Terry Daniel of O'Fallon volunteered Saturday for an annual stream cleanup. He and other volunteers combed the basin area at Mexico Road and Highway K. |
Nearly 1,200 people pulled plastic bottles, food wrappers and even washing machines from local rivers and streams in a regional cleanup event Saturday.
The Greenway Network in St. Charles County and Trailnet in St. Louis County planned their spring stream clean events for the same day this year.
"I thought it was so great there were these events going on simultaneously," said Laura Cohen, confluence project director at Trailnet. "We wanted to make it easy for people to come out and clean up the rivers."
On Saturday, volunteers picked up nearly 250 tires from areas around the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and Creve Coeur Lake, in addition to nearly 13,000 pounds of trash.
"It's a great opportunity for people to come out and really make a difference," Cohen said. "Every plastic bottle, bag (and) shopping cart is one less thing that is polluting the river and impacting people's drinking water."
In St. Charles County, six cities and the county government hosted opportunities to pick up trash. Volunteers in O'Fallon cleaned up several tributaries and stenciled warning signs on storm drains.
Michele Gremminger, storm water management coordinator for O'Fallon, said many people don't think about how the things they dump down the storm drain will affect their local streams.
"The big ones are yard waste, leaves, oil, paint and solvents, fertilizers, it all goes there," she said. "We'll see an increase in algae blooms from grass clippings, leaves and fertilizers, which is bad because it takes oxygen out of the water."
Down in the streams, cleanup crews found everything from tricycles and bicycles to dryers and refrigerators, said Charlene Waggoner, president of Greenway Network, a regional organization based in St. Charles County that encourages protection of the area's watersheds.
Waggoner said they are still calculating how much trash the volunteers hauled from the creeks.
"It's really exciting to realize how many people go out and make a huge difference," she said.
First-time volunteers Thomas Eck, 8, and his father Kevin Eck walked along a creek in Barathaven Park on Saturday.
Among their more memorable discoveries were an engine half-submerged in the mud and part of a deer skeleton.
They couldn't get the engine out, but Thomas took home the deer bones.
"We definitely both have more of an appreciation for how much trash gets thrown out of car windows," said Kevin Eck.
Both Trailnet and the Greenway Network will be hosting stream clean events in the future. For more information visit www.confluencegreenway.org or www.greenwaynetwork.org.
SUCCESS!!
Mission: Clean Stream
2010
On Saturday March 27, volunteers from St. Charles County, Greenway Network, and the communities of Cottleville, Dardenne Prairie, Lake St. Louis, O’Fallon, St. Charles and Wentzville removed trash from local streams and lakes. The last time Operation Clean Stream mobilized in St. Charles County, nearly 600 volunteers pulled over 28,000 pounds of trash from Dardenne, Peruque, Belleau, Spencer and Cole Creeks. This year we had even more people volunteer.
Once again the Stream Trash ART (START) project ran in conjunction with the stream cleaning. This project, created by Greenway Network project director Ralph Rollins, salvages metal pulled from the streams and uses it to create new works of art. Local artists worked at the Quail Ridge Park site to create works of art from materials found. Look for local works to be on display in your community throughout the rest of 2010.
Families, organizations and individuals participated by meeting at their nearest community sites. From there the volunteers were assigned areas along creeks around the entire county. They did a wonderful job as usual. It is estimated that 620 people helped clean the streams. Trash amounts will be announced later after weighing.
Thanks to all the folks from the cities and County listed below
- Dardenne Prairie (636) 561-1718
- Meet at Barat Haven Trailhead
- Cottleville (636) 498-6565 x203
- Meet at City Hall
- Wentzville/Lake St. Louis/ St. Charles County (636) 332-9236
- Meet at Quail Ridge Group Picnic Area
- O’Fallon (636) 379-5408
- Meet at Civic Park
- St. Charles (636) 949-3237
- Meet at Fountain Lakes Park
The day started at 8:30 a.m. with registration at one of the five rendezvous locations listed above. Everyone dressed for the weather and wore sturdy shoes or boots and most brought their own gloves. Breakfast or lunch was provided depending upon location. FreeT-shirts, thanks to Missouri Stream Team and Greenway Network, were given to our volunteers.
This community-wide event is sponsored by the cities above, Greenway Network, Inc, Missouri Stream Team, Cee Kay Supply, Inc. and Wal-Mart. Financial donations to this worthwhile project are also appreciated for supplies and to defray the cost of tire disposal. Contributions can be made through Greenway Network at http://greenwaynetwork.org, email to greenwaynetwork@gmail.com or call (636) 498-0772. Thanks again, and see you next year!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenway Network, Inc. presented its first Landowner Awards during the St. Charles County Soil and Water Conservation District annual meeting Nov. 12.
Jim Burris and Charlene Waggoner presented the awards to:
James Schloeman of Kahuna Land Co. Schloeman restored 61.8 acres of wetlands on Kahuna Land Co. in 2007 and is planning to restore 17.9 additional acres of wetlands on Kahuna Land.
Rick Holton Jr. of Over and Under Land Co. Holton has restored approximately 50 acres of wetlands and plans to restore more. He is an active participant in conservation groups throughout the region, along with his father. Read more: http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/12/09/stcharles/news/1209east-greenway0.txt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenway's own Ralph Rollins Awarded with the Audobon Toyota TogetherGreen Fellowship.
St. Charles Man Singled Out for Environmental Leadership
Honoree Receives Audubon/Toyota TogetherGreen Fellowship
fellowship designed to advance the work of individuals with outstanding leadership potential to help shape a brighter environmental future.
Featured Project
September, 2009
R4R '09 has come and gone - and what a year it was! Major props to all who participated or came out to support the event. Thanks to you, we've had our best year yet! Total race participants for '09 topped out at a whopping 100 racers and 81 boats - the number of entries in the Clean Water Challenge alone nearly doubled since last year! Additionally, this year's festival drew an estimated crowd of 1,200 and turned a profit for the first time! Best of all, 09's impressive turnout means that we're getting the word out about clean water education, restoration and recreation to more people than ever. With your continued support, we'll be able to spread the message far and wide for many years to come - and have a good time doing it! Thanks again for making Race for the Rivers 2009 our best yet!
Congratulations to all of this year's winners! With the addition of several racing divisions in 2009, we're now able to welcome more racers than ever into the winner's circle. The way we see it, the more the merrier!
Race for the Rivers 2010 is scheduled for the weekend of September 4th and 5th. Registration will open on the website after the first of the year, so please check back early and often to make sure you don't miss out on any of the fun! Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on any race-related news and information. We look forward to seeing you again next year!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harmony
The 2009 Sunpaint Quilt
Congratulations to Mary Meiners who won the Quilt in October
greenwaynetwork@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know that already in 2010 Greenway Network and its fantastic volunteers have:
• Removed more than 50,000 pounds of trash from rivers and creeks in St Charles County
• Provided some of that trash to sculptors who have created Stream Trash ART,
• Received another MDC Community Grant to assist in prairie restoration at the new Town Park County Park in Wentzville
• Distributed EPA approved safe Water bottles,
• Monitored the water quality along the entire length of Dardenne Creek, and
• Planned new surprises (beer, food, activities, MUSIC, more canoe and kayak divisions, prizes) for the Race for the Rivers and Clean Water Challenge?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the New York Times...
Aug 29 - 30
KATY TRAIL, MO.
Head to St. Charles, a Missouri River city just northwest of St. Louis, and pedal off westward on the Katy Trail, which meanders along the river before it bends to the southwest and ends in Clinton, 225 miles to the west (www.bikekatytrail.com). Rental bikes are available for $6 an hour or $30 a day at Momentum Cycles (www.momentumcycles.com), at 104 South Main Street near a trailhead. On Saturday, the trail offers a bonus: views of canoeists and kayakers zooming downstream in the Race for the Rivers.
Take your own bike cruise 26 miles past the river towns of Greens Bottom, Weldon Spring and Defiance and the Daniel Boone Judgement Tree Memorial in Matson. Turn around in Augusta, after a good meal at the Augusta Brewing Co., which makes a variety of ale and beer, including root beer. Back in St. Charles, stop by the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center on Riverside Drive for displays on Lewis and Clark's expedition ($3). The Ameristar Casino Hotel and Spa (www.ameristarcasinos.com) offers river-view rooms for $269.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunpainting with Greenway Network
For those of you who have sunpainted with Greenway Network and want to know more about it...
You can download a resource page here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PORTAGE DES SIOUX — A bicycle and walking trail linking the eastern end of the Katy Trail to the Portage des Sioux Nature Area is under study by local officials.
In addition to offering a new trail in northeast St. Charles County, the plan could bring new visitors to shop and eat in the community of about 350 people.
"The city thinks it would be good for business since it would attract recreational cyclists into town," said Ralph Rollins, a Greenway Network official who is working with city leaders on the study.
A public meeting to gauge community reaction will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the Portage des Sioux City Hall.
A route has yet to be selected, but Mayor Mark Warner says one logical choice would be a shoulder of a mile-long stretch of Payne Road between the town and the eastern tip of the Katy Trail in the Machens area.
The state has wanted to complete the Katy between St. Charles and Machens for years but the floods of 1993 and 1995 caused major gaps in that 11-mile segment. State officials hope that a long-delayed plan to solve the problem will be completed by late this fall. That effort involves putting part of the trail atop an existing levee.
The Portage des Sioux Nature Area is on 25 acres formerly occupied by homes damaged in the 1993 flood. Rollins designed the facility and the Great Rivers Greenway district, a regional parks agency, provided most of the $250,000 needed for it.
Warner said the idea of connecting the nature area to the Katy isn't new but that people in the area began considering it more seriously after the state provided money to build restrooms at the nature area. They are expected to be ready by the end of the year, he said.
"There's very little parking at Machens," Warner said. "This would give people a safe place to park, and restrooms."
Rollins said no funding source or timetable has been determined yet for the connector trail.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tree Planting At Brommelsiek County Park.Brommelsiek Park is one of the newest county parks in St. Charles County see www.http://parks.sccmo.org/parks/
On April 25, 2009 nearly 1000 trees and bushes were planted in the riparian zone of Kraut Run Creek. We began at 8:00am and worked till noon.
111 volunteers of all ages helped with the planting.
Food and drink were provided. Stream Team T-shirts were given to all of the volunteers who registered.
Please help Greenway Network hold more events restoring stream banks in the St. Louis region.
To volunteer contact greenwaynetwork@gmail.com Or call 636-498-0772--please supply your name, address, phone number and email address.
To see what we have done follow these directions to Brommelsiek Park: From Highway 40/61, exit at the WingHaven Blvd (Highway DD) interchange and go south on Highway DD for approximately four miles. Turn right on Schwede Road to the park entrance. An additional entrance is located on Wilson Road for the dog park and small fishing lake.
If you would like to help, but are unable to participate in the actual events you can still contribute to other worthwhile projects.
Contributions can be made to Greenway Network. Send checks to:
Greenway Network, Inc.
3457 Riverchase Pkwy
St. Charles, MO 63301
or donate online.
Greenway Network is an all volunteer 501 C3 non-profit group and no one is paid a salary. Your deduction is tax deductible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenway Network members help at Portage Des Sioux Tree Planting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*****Break the plastic bag habit!!*****
Please view the following website that gives lots of reasons to start using cloth or other reusable bags at the grocery store.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Federal Campaign Number is 66328
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barat Academy Students help Greenway Network In Monitoring Peruque Creek and removing invasive plants.
Students from Barat Academy continue to work with Greenway Network on a stream restoration projects this year.
Here they work with Board Member and Stream Team Guru, Larry Ruff to identify macroinvertebrates.
The students have also removed Bush Honeysuckle and Garlic Mustard from about 150 yards of stream bank. They only have about a mile to go!!
More recently they applied protective wrapping to 250 newly planted trees at Beowmmelsiek Park.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Green's Bottom Wildflower and Wetlands Project
Greenway's Mission is partly "to encourage sound management of area
watersheds, to educate the public"; we also network with other agencies.
Thanks to the cooperation of the St. Charles County Highway
Department and our County Executive, we were able to substitute beautiful
Native prairie grasses and wildflowers on over 21 acres along the new
Green's Bottom road project. The area lies between the road and the
Katy Trail. The area is a wonderful linear wetland.
From the Suburban Journal
 |
Ryan Prewitt photo St. Charles artist Joseph Farmer works on the plumage of a moto bird he built out of materials pulled from streams in St. Charles County. |
ODD JOBS: From trash to treasure
By Kalen Ponche
Two rusty children's bikes and a twisted guardrail leaned against a shed in Joseph Farmer's backyard Monday afternoon.
Farmer, 56, stood back, considering the array of junk that was organized by size. On the far right were faded highway signs, on the left were linear posts and poles, and in the middle was metal of all shapes.
The junk lay in the bottom of the creeks in St. Charles County until it was pulled out by Operation Clean Stream volunteers during two weekends in April. And it was from this pile of potential that Farmer created a giant metal sculpture of a bird.
Farmer has bent, pounded and welded...
Read the whole article>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenway Network has joined several other regional groups in the Gateway Regional Cooperative Weed Management Area. This is a group interested in coordinating efforts and sharing resources for invasive species removal. There is no specific representation on the group from St Charles County. Invasive removal is of particular interest to us as we look toward more work at the Peruque Creek site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2010 IS GREENWAY NETWORK'S SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY!!!
Help us celebrate by volunteering, attending events, coming to board meetings, renewing your membership, donating your time or money for special events, letting us get to know you better, advising us on issues, helping us plan by becoming committee member; any or all of this will keep Greenway Network stay an energetic, beneficial group for all of Missouri.
We are located in the heart of the United States in St. Charles County, a county that is bounded by the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers. Our non-profit volunteer organization works to develop parks, trails, and recreational/educational opportunities for the enjoyment of all. Originally created as a St. Charles County based organization in 1993, we now serve the entire St. Louis Region with a membership base which includes citizens from all the adjacent counties in this region, including Metro East.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DID YOU KNOW??
Every member of Greenway Network receives a bi-monthly edition of "Missouri Wildlife Magazine" from the Missouri Conservation Federation. Because we support and are an affliate of this very fine Missouri non-profit organization, you receive complimentary copies. If you are a paid member in the month of February, you will receive the magazine for the next year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next Meeting
| Date: | August 2, 2010 |
| Time: | 7:00 pm |
| Location: | STC Community College Center Suite 202 |
| Information: | All members are welcome to come and meet the Board of Directors and participate in the monthly meeting. Input and ideas are always welcomed. Items for discussion: New MDC Grant, Aububon Grant, Race for the Rivers, and other events for 2010. |
Greenway Board of Directors
President: Dr. Charlene Waggoner
Vice President-Revenue Generation: James Burris
Vice President-Membership: Abby Broadstone
Secretary: David Hartman
Treasurer: Larry Ruff
Parliamentarian: Jessica Rowe
Director: Dr. Michael Garvey
Director: Kelly Hiedt
Director Emeritus: Jane Bishop
- Park Service Ranger Led Bike Tours on Riverfront Trail
- River des Peres Ramble
- ***Greenway Network Monthly Board meeting
Who are we?
The Greenway Network is a grassroots, volunteer-based organization whose mission is to conserve natural resources, encourage sound management of the area's watersheds and protect the quality of life for all citizens.
Issues that Matter
Get the latest about Greenway Network's ongoing projects and get relevant information on current issues that concern our envirornment, land and waterways in the St. Louis Metro area.
Newsletter
The Latest Newsletter is now available for download!
Email Alerts:
Sign up now for all the latest local environmental news in your inbox.
