Hello, River lovers!

Each year the RiverLink Board of Directors honors businesses around the French Broad River and watershed that have made a significant contribution to its rebirth as a destination where everyone is invited to live, work and play.

In past years RiverLink has honored Jolene Mechanic and the Phil Mechanic Studios for bringing diverse programs and vibrancy to the river along with John Payne for his incredible sculptures and life. The Clingman Café and 12 Bones have both been recipients for pioneering great food along the urban riverfront.  James Green, owner of Greene's Mini-Mart, and high-tech satellite manufacturing giant AVL Technologies have each been honored as important RiverBusinesses.

This year RiverLink is delighted to honor Silver-Line Plastics, The Pink Dog Creative Studios and the Wedge Brewery as the 2011 RiverBusiness honorees.

 Silver-Line Plastics has been doing business along the French Broad River for several generations.  In 1962, Charlie R. Silver and Charles J. Silver founded Silver-Line Plastics with a vision: to build a successful business that would stand the rigors of time, focused on manufacturing the highest quality pipe and supplying the best service in the industry. Today, Silver-Line is manufacturing one of the industry's broadest range of pipe products, including PVC, CPVC, PVC Conduit, Polyethylene & PEX at their state of the art production facilities in Asheville, Lawton, Oklahoma, and Ft. Pierce, Florida.

 Ricky Silver, current President and CEO of Silver-Line, has served on the RiverLink board of directors.  Today he serves as the Chair of the newly formed (County, City, CIBO, Chamber and RiverLink each appoint members) River Commission. Silver-Line will help develop a greenway along its 40-plus acre property as part of Woodfin's aggressive greenway development along the French Broad River.  The plan is for Silver-Line to place easements along its property in the riparian corridor for the establishment of a greenway.  This is the first step in establishing a Wilma Dykeman extension of the greenway into Woodfin that reaches all the way to Madison County. A  NCDOT-funded feasibility study has just been completed for this corridor.  

 Pink Dog Creative Studios on Depot Street was founded in 2010, the brainchild of Randy Schull and Hedy Fisher, two long time Asheville artists, entrepreneurs  and activists.  Randy is an architect, artist and sculptor who has  transformed old manufacturing space into  more artist studios, a  new  restaurant and a theater. They added these facilities as entrepreneurs without a government subsidy.  It is a vibrant community of 15 artist studios, the Asheville Area Arts Council and The Junction Restaurant and Bar, due to open spring of 2011. Pink Dog Creative's goal is to create a thoughtful community providing space for creative minds to gather, create, show and work eat and drink together.

 Shull and Fischer have lived and worked in Asheville collectively for over 50 years and have long-sought to become more actively involved in the River Arts District. When the Pink Dog property became available they immediately realized the opportunity to extend the River Arts District and create a new artist community.

Last but not least, the RiverLink board voted to honor Tim Schaller and the Wedge Brewery.  In a town full of amazing micro-breweries, the Wedge has distinguished itself as a destination to gather, watch movies, eat peanuts and visit the river. The Wedge Brewing Co. is located in the lower level of the Wedge Studios situated in the River Arts District. The building is a classic brick warehouse adjacent to the railroad tracks.  The original building served as the Farmers Federated Building and was built by former Representative Jamie Clarke's family to serve farming interests throughout WNC.  According to Schaller, "We chose this location because it is in the last frontier of Asheville. We chose this specific space because it is a perfect fit for our brewing system and gives us great outdoor potential."

With this  year's RiverBusiness Awards, RiverLink is pleased to  honor the many voices - a manufacturer, a developer and a micro brewery as essential Voices of the River. These folks have made the river their home and helped the rebirth of our region's most important asset - The French Broad.

 The 2011 RiverBusiness Awards winners will be honored at RiverLink's annual donor reception in February.  Fortunately we can all enjoy their contributions to our community and river every day.

New videos get the RiverLink message out
 

 Tell the world you value a clean French Broad River 

RiverLink is excited to announce our new organic cotton t-shirt. The "She Ain't No Trashy Broad" tee was printed locally by Image 420 on a "natural" colored tee and is available in mens and ladies sizes (S-2X). Become a voice of the river and show your support for the region's most under-used asset, the French Broad River.  Purchases can be made online and in person at the RiverLink offices (170 Lyman Street). These are an absolute bargain at $10 each!
 

Let's dream of warm August days...

... and one August day in particular -- August 13th, the date of RiverFest 2011. Last year's event was a huge success. It was a day of great music, highlighted by headliners Ralph Roddenbery Band. There was cornhole, disc golf, face-painting, beer, and of course, the Anything That Floats raft race.

Once again, we encourage everyone to gather coworkers, friends and family members and create a raft for the yacht race. A panel of local celebrity judges will judge them based on criteria such as Fastest, Most Creative, and Ugliest. About the only rule is that your craft must float, and it must be removed from the festival grounds, which will be French Broad River Park again.

Last year's entry from the Division of Water Quality

We had about 42 entries last year in the raft race last year, and hope to see more this year. So while the snow falls, start thinking about your raft, draft a few friends, and let's make this year's raft race bigger and wilder than ever.

Winter Warmer 2011 was a brewsing success

Think globally, drink locally

a soldout crowd

Super volunteer and board member, Jerry Johnson

Evergreen Conducts Water Quality Tests for Haw Creek

GIS Image of Haw Creek Watershed

The unit began with an interactive lecture about global and local water. Smith led the students through an activity exploring various facets of life and how they relate to water.  The main topics were survival, economy, culture, scientific cycles, and rights.After determining the ways water influenced these topics globally, the students worked in groups to conclude specific local examples and presented to the rest of the class.  Although there was more laughing during the skits than serious information they understood how water influences many parts of life.

Turbidimeter, Wide Range pH test, Nitrate Kit, Phosphate Reader, Water Samples

Next, the classes conducted water quality tests.  Mills collected water samples from four locations along Haw Creek.A group was assigned to each location and four parameters were tested.   Please see the map above and follow  Google Earth Link for Water Testing Sites to see exactly where they tested the water. Below is a table that averages the results from four tests: two groups tested from same site on two seperate days.

Cara Levey Testing Turbidity

 

With this new information the students plan to communicate their findings to the Haw Creek Community through newsletters.In addition, RiverLink will supply "flow to stream" storm drain placards that will be installed by students.  We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Evergreen to help them learn and improve our French Broad Watershed.
 

 

3 p.m.-4:30p.m. at the Orange Peel. Our friends at Maccabi Academy will be sponsoring this awesome fundraiser for us again. Tickets will be available soon from the Orange Peel. 
 

French Broad River Paddle Trail update

Volunteer Spotlight -- Tara Granke 

Tara is a new volunteer who has already stepped in to help in a big way. She put in numerous hours scanning our newspaper clippings into the digital archive. She helped set up and worked on MLK Day at the raingarden, and she came out to help us with the Winter Warmer. Since graduating from Western Kentucky University in 2007 with a B.S in Biology, Tara has bounced around the country seeking restoration and conservation work.  She has worked as a seasonal botanist and biological technician in California and Nevada for the past two years.  A recent transplant to Asheville, she is excited to get into the local conservation/restoration commuity through volunteer work with Riverlink.

Trivia Quiz - Lakes

1. Which Missouri lake, named for a native son, sits at the face of the Clarence Cannon Dam?

 A)  Mark Twain Lake

 B) George Washington Carver Lake

 C) Walter Cronkite Lake

 D) Bill Bradley Lake

2. The Northwest Angle, the northernmost part of the continental United States, is surrounded by Canada on one side and which Minnesota lake?

A)Lake of the Woods

B)Red Lake

C)Lake Minnetonka

D)Vermilion Lake

3. Which Florida lake is the largest freshwater lake in the southern U.S. and part of the Everglades watershed?

A)Lake Apopka

B)Lake Kissimmee

C)Lake Okeechobee

D)Lake George

4. Which of these lakes bordering Canada and Michigan, is the smallest?

A)Lake St. Clair

B)Lake Erie

C)Lake Superior

D)Lake Huron

5. The northern boundary of New Orleans, Louisiana is also the southern shore of which lake?

A)Catahoula Lake

B)Lac des Allemands

C)Lake Maurepas

D)Lake Pontchartrain

6. The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington has a reservoir named after which U.S. President?

A)Harry S. Truman

B)Franklin D. Roosevelt

C)James E. Carter

D)Dwight D. Eisenhower

7. In North Dakota lies a lake named for the Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark. There have been many different spellings of her name. Which is the correct spelling? 

A)None of these are correct

B)Lake Sacagawea

C)Lake Sakakawea

D)Lake Sacajawea

8. The Hoover Dam on the Colorado River impounds Lake Mead. Which states are partly covered with the surface area of Lake Mead?

A)Nevada and Arizona

B)Arizona and Utah

C)Nevada and California

D)Arizona and California

9. The city that holds the same name as this upstate New York lake has held the Winter Olympics twice. What is the name of the lake?

A)Cranberry Lake

B)Lake Champlain

C)Lake Placid

D)Lake George

10. What is significant about  New Mexico's Elephant Butte Lake in relation to the name?

A)Volcanic core island in lake that resembles an elephant

B)Elephant zoo at lake

C)Statue of elephant at lake entrance

D)Lake shaped like an elephant

ANSWERS

1) A

2) A

3) C 

4) A 

5) D

6) B

7) C

8) A

9) C

10) A 

Dear Teachers of the French Broad River Watershed,

RiverLink would like to  

invite you and your  

class to participate  

in the annual Voices  

of the River Art and  

Poetry Contest.  This  

is an exciting event  

that provides an  

opportunity for students to display their art in the community and  

win prizes.  The French  

Broad River is the  

inspiration for creative  

expression.  There are  

there are three main  

categories: Poetry, 2D  

Art and 3D Art.

The deadline for  

submissions is  

April 6th 2011.  We ask  

that a teacher or  

school representative  

drop the artwork off at  

the RiverLink office  

(170 Lyman Street in  

Asheville.   

All entries will be  

scanned, cataloged  

by RiverLink staff and  

volunteers and then  

judged by local writers  

and artist.  The winners  of the contest will be displayed at Holly Library on AB Tech's Campus.There will be  

a reception and awards

banquet on Saturday,  

April 30th, 2011 from  

2:00pm - 5:00pm.   

The work will be  

displayed through  

the month of March.

If you are interested  

in participating,  

RiverLink will provide  

you with ideas for  

prompts, worksheets,  

and will lead lesson  

with materials upon  

request.  Last year we  

had over 800  

participants and  

presented 65 awards  

and honorable mentions  to students.   

If you would like to  

read more about the  

contest and obtain  

poetry promts please  

follow:  

http://www.riverlink.org/earthdaycontest.asp

 If you have further questions feel free to contact Hayley J. Smith at

education@riverlink.org or call 828-252-8474 ext.18.