2000 Trees, oh my!

2000 trees, oh MY! So far this year we have helped to plant nearly 2000 trees! We have been working with the City of Columbia’s Public Works Department and the Parks and Recreation Department to identify areas in need of trees and to plan work days to get them into the ground. We also did a tree planting with the Big Muddy Refuge Fish and Wildlife Services, and have borrowed dibble bars from them to dig the holes for the trees.

On Friday, April 16^th, we worked with Job Point’s construction crew to plant 300 trees in a strip of land between HWY 70 and HWY 63 in Columbia. When looking for volunteers to help plant the trees, a representative from Job Point said they were looking for “dirty jobs”. Job Point is a job training program, and this crew was great! 10 crew members and 2 staff showed up in work gear, complete with boots, gloves and goggles, they were ready to work! After showing everyone how to use the dibbles and plant the trees, we got started. The planting was a little difficult, as the ground was pretty solid, dry and full of gravel! But we prevailed, and got all 300 trees in the ground in about 3 hours.

On Thursday, April, 22^nd, we planned another tree planting for Earth Day. This time we were located at the City Landfill, focusing on an area of field between the compost piles and nearby Hinkson Creek. Part of the stream bank had eroded pretty extremely from last fall’s heavy rains. Our trees would help stabilize this area, as well as act as filters for any nutrients that would leach from the landfill, through the ground and into the Hinkson. We recruited volunteers, and had a trickle of people throughout the day, helping us plant 450 trees in about 2 acres of stream side land!

Rain Barrel Art Review and Barrel Roll

Friday, March 19^th was our first ever Barrel Roll in conjunction with our Rain Barrel Art Review. We had 13 artists design and paint rain barrels, and one more barrel completed by children participants at the Sustainability Fair in the fall of 2009. Three of the barrels were at Orr St. Studios during the reception and the rest were at their host locations around downtown Columbia.

The evening began at Orr St. Studios at 5pm. Visitors passed through, picking up maps of where the barrels were located around town and did the Barrel Roll, seeing them all and enjoying the amazing weather. We had two computers up and running for people to begin bidding on the barrels on eBay. Thirteen out of the 14 barrels sold at auction, and we think we have a home for the last one!

Paul Grace provided some bluegrass music from 6-7pm. Then attendees voted on People’s Choice, which we announced as Katrina Thomas and Stirling Williams. We also announced our Jurors’ Choice Awards as the Kellenberger Family, Josie Cozean and Thomas Matthew Pierson. After announcements we enjoyed the musical stylings of Logan and Hunter Park.

We believe there were about 75-85 people in attendance at Orr St. Studios, not counting any people who did the Barrel Roll, but didn’t stop by Orr St Studios. There were also reporters from MU’s The Maneater, the Missourian and KOMU TV. Below are links to the stories from that night.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/03/19/rain-barrel-art-draws-crowd-raises-awareness/

www.themaneater.com/stories/2010/3/23/orr-street-studios-hosts-rain-barrel-art-review/

MRCN wanted to thank Boone Electric Coop Community Trust for funding the event and all our sponsors who provided prizes for the artists. We thank the artists for providing their time, expertise and talent. And we thank the host locations, who shared their spaces and welcomed the many Barrel Rollers. We think the night was a success, and many, many people were made aware of the possible beauty and uses of rain barrels.

1st month of AmeriCorps

Hello moriverlovin’ folks!

This is Julia from the Missouri Clean Water AmeriCorps Program, serving through the Missouri River Communities Network in Columbia, MO.

We are a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and restore the historic, cultural, and natural resources of the Missouri River and its surrounding communities, and to encourage citizen participation in these endeavors.

The new AmeriCorps members recently got back from a week of training in the spider-filled Lake of the Ozarks State Park. Learning and growing.
After learning all about AmeriCorps and our supervising organization the MRCN, we made foshees, saw glow worms and then ate sand while camping on California Island. We had spent the evening with River Relief and had the tastiest food around while we were helping with their event on the island.

One of MRCN's current projects is promoting and installing Rain Gardens in residential and institutional land around Columbia. We have been making site visits to help people decide if their property is an appropriate place to put in a garden and how to best do that. We have also been doing lots of upkeep on previously installed gardens, removing invasive species, getting stuck in the mud, planting and laying down cardboard and mulch to keep the weeds away. Each work day we have had between 1-3 volunteers helping to maintain these public gardens. We appreciate all the extra hands, and are always looking for more!

Learn more about the benefits to our watershed and community on our website, www.moriver.org/
OR
Search for info from the Department of Natural Resources, where they are asking the city of Columbia to reduce rain water flow into the Hinkson Creek by 68%!
How can we do this?

LOTS OF RAIN GARDENS!

Kansas City River Clean-Up

Hello Stream-Lovers!

My name is Rebecca, and I am one of ten new and awesome Missouri Clean Stream AmeriCorps Members! Although the past three weeks have been full of fun, I have chosen just one excellent story to share with you.

On October 3^rd, I spent my 23^rd birthday attending my first ever river clean-up! Although I am currently stationed in Columbia, MO with the Missouri River Communities Network, I grew up in Kansas City and could not resist a trip home to practice everything that I had been learning with MRCN.

It was a chilly morning, and one of the first things I noticed was a neon orange beanie. One of the second things I noticed was that this beanie belonged to my high school Environmental Education teacher, Mike Pisani. Without the Environmental Education program at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, I would not be where I am today, and I was excited to see that Pisani had brought some of his students out to help clean the river.

After a chilly boat ride to our site, we were let loose on the garbage that littered the river bank. Among our finds for the day: a refrigerator door, a perfectly usable soccer ball, a red cooler, a toy hammer, LOTS of styrofoam, LOTS of plastic bottles and a beautiful pink bra. In just over 2 hours, the 21 volunteers from Team Cougar had cleaned up our stretch, and we were ready to return to Kaw Point Park.

All told, nearly 400 volunteers came out to help with the clean-up! Thanks to all involved for making my 23^rd birthday a memorable one!

Summer Fun!

Well June was packed full with fun summertime events. The weather was fine & the highlights are many. My favorite ed event was with hundred's of cub scouts at our local city park, Stephens Lake. Groups of 20 would come through our booth every hour on the hour, for 8 hours! It was such a pleasure to work and play with these kids, they were so intelligent & well behaved! Ann Koenig (Forrester for MDC) plays the Macro-Mayem game with the scouts

Many of them were definitely "gifted" and sometimes my lecture on water quality and Stream Teams would get turned around into Q & A's, ranging from scientists studying parasitic twins to why old people shrink, after that last one, I quickly saw that we were getting way off track & returned to our discussion on macro-invertebrates! The next day, Steve & I were off to celebrate Stream Team's 20th anniversary down in Waynesville! We participated in a float on the Big Piney, mingled with fellow stream teamers, listened to old time bluegrass, ate BBQ & together shared our fondest memories during a heartwarming documentary on the program and it's success'. Here's a link to watch the 20th anniversary documentary: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=02D5F418F1519949 Steve & I on our float (top)

A beautiful mayfly I rescued out of the water and set to dry on my paddle (bottom)

On Sunday, I attended some really great workshops on terrestrial insects and fly fishing. It was a blast!

Lastly, Missouri River Relief ended June with a big splash in Sioux City, IA. For the second year in a row, we helped local Siouxlanders clean-up their stretch of river. There wasn't all that much trash to be had, but the experience of working with the "Sioux Crew" was priceless. We even got to take a tour of a wastewater treatment plant! Check out over a hundred photos we are posting of this event on our Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/8478409@N03/. What a great month it has been, Missouri's streams & rivers have once again left me full, yet ready for more.

Melanie Cheney
Americorps Stream Team Assistant
Missouri River Relief