Aug 23: Secchi Day on Beaver Lake, Volunteers Needed!

[Fish]

We're one week from Secchi day at Beaver Lake, and they need plenty of volunteers to sign up and ACC has also been invited to set up a booth there. This is a big event put on by our friends at Beaver Water District, and it's great for community education and doing some important science. Please read the article sent to me below, and contact Amy (contact info at the bottom) to get more information or to sign up a team. If anyone from NW chapter would like to set up an information booth at the pavilion, please let me know and we'll get that project going!

- Fish

Please consider joining us with an informational display on Aug. 23. Your information would be of great interest to the folks who will be attending our third annual Secchi Day on Beaver Lake! Secchi Day is a citizen science event where teams of volunteers take water quality measurements around Beaver Lake, using Secchi Disks. The public is also invited to enjoy educational activities and exhibits at the Grand Shelter at Prairie Creek, including a Children's Activities Tent, Pontoon Boat Tours highlighting bird life and shoreline best management practices, Rain Barrel Building Workshops, Secchi Tube and Secchi Dip demonstrations, and Lunch for the first 250 attendees. The purpose of the event is to promote awareness of safeguarding Beaver Lake and its environment/watershed, since this lake provides drinking water for most of Northwest Arkansas. Exhibits must be in good taste and follow the stated purpose. This is a non-profit, educational event. Please come join us this year!

EXHIBITOR INVITATION
Secchi Day on Beaver Lake
Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008
Exhibitor Set-Up: 8-9 a.m.
Exhibitor Tear Down: 1 p.m.
Grand Shelter, Prairie Creek, Beaver Lake

Directions: To get to Prairie Creek, go to the intersection of 2nd and Locust in Rogers. Then, travel east on Highway 12 for 4 miles and turn left on North Park Road into Prairie Creek Park.) Parking: The daily park fee is $4; however, simply download the Parking Pass (PDF file) and put this on the windshield of your car and you will not need to pay the fee (just drive on through rather than stopping at the check-in booth). Please feel free to forward passes to anyone who might be attending.

The Grand Shelter is very large and has metal picnic tables with metal benches. Tables and benches are first come first serve to exhibitors. (So arrive early!) You may bring your own table/chairs if you want to do so. The benches at the Shelter do not have chair backs. There are no walls and no nails/hammers are allowed. Please bring easels and boards that can stand on tables. Please bring educational activities concerning preserving Beaver Lake, water quality, watershed preservation, and environmental preservation and sustainability that all ages can enjoy. NO bottled water is allowed. We’ll have cold tap water in dispensers and reusable sports bottles for everyone.

Amy L. Wilson, Director of Public Affairs
Beaver Water District, P.O. Box 400, Lowell, AR 72745
awilson@bwdh2o.org; 479-756-3651
“Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes – one for peace and one for science.” -- John F. Kennedy

[Fish]

Also got this from Amy the other day. See you out at the Lake!

- Fish

N E W S R E L E A S E

Secchi Day includes Rain Barrel Building Workshops, Children’s Fun Tent, Pontoon Boat Rides

Learn to build a rain barrel on Saturday, Aug. 23rd, when Beaver Water District hosts three rain barrel building workshops at the Grand Shelter at Prairie Creek on Beaver Lake during Secchi Day on Beaver Lake. Workshops will be held at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and noon and rain barrels will be given away in drawings. Other activities will include citizen science with a Secchi disk used to measure clarity in the water, a children’s tent full of hands-on water fun and a stream table demonstration, and pontoon boat rides at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Events are free and activities and lunch are first-come, first-served. Secchi Day is sponsored by Beaver Water District, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Beaver Lake, and Audubon Arkansas. To get to Prairie Creek, go to the intersection of 2nd and Locust in Rogers. Then, travel east on Highway 12 for 4 miles and turn left on North Park Road into Prairie Creek Park. For more information, visit http://www.bwdh2o.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or call 717-3807.