Currents \| June 2013

Poison Ivy, ticks, sweat and trash. Sounds miserable, right? That is what about 50 4th-7th grade students from Chase Elementary School and Owens Corning volunteers endured to remove about five dumpsters of trash and two dumpsters of just tires from Manhattan Marsh. On Thursday and Friday, May 16th and 17th, these dedicated volunteers removed all types of trash from Manhattan Marsh behind Chase Elementary School during the Owens Corning Day of Caring.  Previously a dumping site for industries and private individuals, this marsh was degraded with various types of trash ranging from tires, parts of boats, and industrial waste to everyday household items such as beverage bottles, food wrappers and plastic bags. Lead by Owens Corning, Partners for Clean Streams, Toledo Metroparks, City of Toledo, Citizens for Buckeye Basin, United North and many other partners, these volunteers took on cleaning up the marsh in addition to installing a rain garden and a bird sanctuary for the school. Manhattan Marsh is 70 acres and home to various uncommon plants and animals but is surrounded by urban homes, businesses and busy roads making the marsh a sanctuary for wildlife. Soon, the Chase Elementary School will be able to use the marsh as a powerful learning tool. Being in nature, caring for it and learning from it has been proven to reduce stress, increase focus, boost grades and many other positive benefits for all ages of students. This is in addition to hands on learning and applying textbook theories to real life examples. This is also great opportunity for the community as a future park and green space. We are grateful that Owens Corning took on this project and wish them the best of luck in the future.

On Tuesday, May 14th, a few lucky people got a sneak peak at the newest Toledo Metropark, The Middlegrounds, for an exciting announcement about the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. This complex partnership connects several federal, regional and local agencies with the purpose of not only restoring rivers but bringing people closer to waterways by encouraging the economy with involvement and improved health of our community around our rivers. The Western Lake Erie Basin has been selected as one of 11 new sites for reconnecting urban communities to our river ways along with other sites across the country.

At the press conference on Tuesday, May 14th, guest speaker Marcy Kaptur and several other speakers discussed how important rivers are to this community and how the Urban Waters Federal Partnership promotes efficient and effective use of federal resources. It does this by recognizing and building on local efforts and leadership, working with local officials and local organizations for resources to boost our economy and integrating lessons from the past for future successes. Lead agencies for the Urban Waters Federal Partnership are US EPA, US Army Corps of Engineers and USDA. In addition, many other federal, regional and local agencies are looking forward to the working together to bring us, as a community, together to rally around our rivers, which is truly something to celebrate. To learn more, visit http://www.urbanwaters.gov/pdf/WLakeErieBasinBackgrounder.pdf.

As staff, most of our time is spent in the office, staring at a computer writing reports, writing grants, organizing events or writing newsletter articles. Sometimes, however, we get to go out and learn from the rivers and other people. Recently, we (Paige and Ava) got to do just that. We went the National River Rally in St. Louis where we met with hundreds of professionals (certified smart people) to learn techniques for creating communities that rally for and around rivers. While we normally deal with people in the Toledo area who have brilliant ideas and incredible experiences, this time we went to workshops and meetings, listened to inspirational speakers, went on canoe trips and connected with bunches of people from around the country. No doubt you will see changes (for the better) in how PCS plans events, develops projects, hosts fundraisers and ultimately cares for our rivers. We came back with renewed ownership, dedication and passion for restoring and preserving our local waterways. Most places around the world don't have enough water to drink, let alone water plants, take showers and go swimming. We are blessed to care for the largest river going into the largest body of freshwater (the Great Lakes) in the world. Sometimes it takes getting away to realize the gem that we have here. Ask us what we learned at River Rally, we would love to share! Some stories are too good to not share.