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!