Westport River Watershed Alliance
River News - May, 2015

Electronics Recycle Drop Off Event at WRWA May 27

We are thrilled to have Indie Cycle LLC provide an Electronics Recycling event at WRWA's office.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015 9 AM - 12 Noon
Westport River Watershed Alliance

1151 Main Road

Westport, MA

A $10 DISPOSAL FEE APPLIES for all TVs & Monitors, mini-fridges, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and other coolant containing appliances.

ITEMS ACCEPTED AT NO CHARGE: Computers, laptops, PDA's, cell phones, mice, keyboards, printers, toner cartridges, CD/DVD players, radios, network equipment, wires, stereos, speakers, telephones, VHS tapes, microwaves, small household appliances, and batteries of any size, type or shape.

ITEMS NOT ACCEPTPED: light bulbs, furniture or any hazardous materials such as paint and broken TV tubes.

Indie Cycle, LLC, has a zero landfill policy. We do not remarket any hard drives or data storage devices. All electronic materials are transferred to ORS a local, R2 certified recycler for processing. See our website at www.indiecycle.com for more information.

Indie Cycle's motto is : ZERO LANDFILL - ZERO TAX DOLLARS and "Everyday is Earth Day With Indie Cycle"

River Day Poster Contest Winners
Steve Connors, Community Engagement Manager

Winning art work by Ella Turenne

The Westport Watershed Alliance has chosen the winners for this year's River Day Poster contest. Students from grades 2-5 at the Westport Elementary School submitted designs, with the theme of river habitats, featuring the wildlife and scenic beauty of the Westport River and its watershed. Over 100 art works were submitted, making the task of choosing the winner from many worthy entries a challenge. The winning art work will be the artistic basis for the poster for the annual River Day event, which will take place this June 6th at the Head of Westport.

This year's overall winner is third grader Ella Turenne, whose colorful crayon depiction of fish, birds, trees and sunshine was the judges' hands-down favorite. The other ribbon winners, listed for each grade level, are as follows:

Grade 2: 1st prize - Hailey Taylor; 2nd prize- Emma Hathaway; 3rd prize - Lily Cuclos.
Grade 3: 1st prize - Bryce Dematos; 2nd prize - Lily Krduzyk; 3rd prize- Gianna Borges.
Grade 4: 1st prize - Mae Lima; 2nd prize- Christine Lepage; 3rd prize - Andrew Swift.

Grade 5: 1st prize - CJ Harrison; 2nd prize - Lacey Chaunt; 3rd prize - Dustin Gagne.

Volunteers Needed for River Day

River Day is coming on June 6th! Volunteers are needed to help us throughout the day, for a couple of hours or longer. We will have many entertaining and interesting activities going on, including kids' activities, environmental exhibits, history tours, and serving of food and beverages.

For a list of volunteer opportunities and an easy on-line sign up form, please visit
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4baba72aa2fb6-river
or contact Steve Connors at 508-636-3016 or outreach@wrwa.com

WRWA Pub Night at the Westporter

Meet Westport River Watershed Alliance at Pub nights!
Thursday May 28 from 4-6pm at the Westporter, 1031 Main Road, Central Village.

Come and join us to meet the new staff at the WRWA-
Executive Director Deborah Weaver, and Community Engagement Manager Steve Connors.

This is a casual chance to learn about the new initiatives of the Alliance and to hear about our ongoing programs in Science, Advocacy and Education. Cash Bar and snacks available.

WRWA Merit Scholarship Winner

Jonathan Zuber

The Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) offers a yearly $500 merit award for graduating seniors living in the watershed. WRWA has a proud 39-year record of environmental stewardship. The merit award offers an opportunity for us to honor students who have demonstrated their concern to protect our watershed environment.

This year's merit award winner is a Westport resident who attends Bishop Stang High School, Jonathan Zuber. Jonathan truly exhibits a deep concern and commitment for the health of the Westport River. He offers great hope as a future steward in caring for our watershed.

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.

River Day is Coming - June 6

June is National Rivers' Month! Celebrate the Westport River at WRWA's Annual River Day Celebration. It's FREE and fun for families and all ages.

Date: Saturday, June 6th.

Time: 10 a.m. -3 p.m.

Location: Head of Westport Landing

This year's popular River Day will take place on Saturday, June 6th, at the Town Landing at the historic Head of Westport, at the intersection of Drift Road and Old County Road. This event is free and open to the public and runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Featured activities include: live music, on- going children's games, fish tee-shirt printing, stilt building, wee boat racing, face painting, May Pole dancing 12:30 p.m., walking tour of historic Head of Westport, a live raptor show, environmental exhibits, and tour of WRWA's future headquarters. Featured musicians include Rhode Island's well-known folk duo Atwater Donnelly, the Westport High School Band, and the Spindle Rock River Rats. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. There is no organized paddle this year, but feel free to float up to the top of the river on your own.

River Day offers many activities and staged performances. Parking is available at the Middle School with shuttle service to the Head and along the East side of Drift Rd.

10:00 - River Day opens at the Head of Westport Landing
10:00 - High School Band on stage with live performance
10:00 - History Walk with Tony Connors
10:30 - Live Birds of Prey Raptor Show with Marla Isaacs
Noon - Poster awards for Westport Elementary School winners
12:30 - Well-known folk duo Atwater & Donnelly on stage
12:30 - May Pole dance in the children's area
1:45 Local Spindle Rock River Rats on stage

On-going throughout the day:

Re-enactment of the life of Charlotte White with Donna Mitchell
Traditional craft making of corn husks dolls and clay material creations
Fish t-shirt printing
Face painting
Small boat (<6") building and racing
Stilt building
Food
Exhibits
ALL Day- the Pop up museum with the Historical Society

June is National Rivers Month, and in observation, WRWA is holding a special Membership Drive during the month of June. This is a great time to renew membership, or join, with half-priced memberships offered on River Day. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the organization's first River Day.

Last year, the Watershed Alliance purchased the old "Head Garage" site on the River, and is finalizing plans for its renovation to become the new WRWA headquarters. For more information visit the WRWA web page at www.westportwatershed.org, or call Community Engagement Manager Steve Connors at 508-636-3016.

WRWA has two $100 scholarships for our Summer Programs

Shelli Costa, Education Director

The Westport River Watershed Alliance is offering two $100 scholarships to attend our Summer Programs for kids ages 7-15. In WRWA's Summer Programs children discover marine life, create eco-crafts, learn about coastal habitats and enjoy games on the beach. Coastal Explorers (ages 7-9) runs Monday through Friday and is offered the weeks of July 6 and/or July 20. In WRWA's River Edventures program (ages 9-11) kids delve deeper into understanding our environment by learning about food chains and the creatures that make up our local ecosystem. The program runs on two different weeks: July 13 August 3. For older participants the Watershed Explorers (ages 12-15) learn about the ecology of the Westport River and spend three days kayaking on the Westport River; it runs Monday through Friday during the week of July 27.

To apply for the partial scholarships send an email to wep@wrwa.com to receive an application form. For more information about WRWA's eco-tastic Summer Programs please visit the WRWA website: http://westportwatershed.org/education/summer-programs/

Development and Finance Administrator Position Opening

The WRWA is seeking a qualified candidate for a Development/Finance Administrator position. A well suited candidate would be an energetic, amicable, and highly organized individual who provides key support in diverse areas of WRWA's operations. The individual will work both independently and with other WRWA staff and volunteers. The Development/Finance Administrator is largely responsible for two important duties: 1) Fundraising administration and staff support; 2) Bookkeeping and financial oversight.

Please email WRWA Executive Director, Deborah Weaver: director@wrwa.com to apply.

Information on the position can be found here:

http://westportwatershed.org/wrwa/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WRWA-FINANCE_ADMIN_2015MAY.pdf

Thanks to All Who Helped Clean the Beach

Our thanks to the fifty volunteers who came out on a beautiful Saturday morning in May to help us clean litter and debris from the beach and dunes at Cherry and Webb beach. Blue skies and a warm breeze made the job a pleasure, as scouts from Pack 100 in Westport and many individuals and families joined in the work force.

Among the items gathered were old lobster pots, rope and netting, wood debris and the ever-present plastic bottles, and cans. Now the beach is looking good as the summer season approaches! Please remember to help keep clean the areas around the beach and throughout the watershed.

Truck Wanted