The
Karankawa Indians called the San Bernard River
the "Singing River",
WE are the
Choir......let
our voices be heard!
Roy Edwards
Friends Of the River San Bernard
Celebrate 1st Anniversary
F.O.R. has been together a year now! In
celebration of that event, the accomplishments
made during that time, and to introduce the
current Board of Directors, committees and their
chairs, every friend of the river should make
plans to attend the 2nd Annual Friends Of the
River San Bernard Town Hall Meeting, Saturday,
February 24th at 7 p.m. at Dido's Restaurant,
2922 C.R. 519 on the San Bernard River.
In addition to a preview of the committees' 2007
goals, F.O.R. will present the 2nd Annual
Ralph Primeau Memorial Award
presented to the person who has gone 'above and
beyond'in the past year for the betterment of
the San Bernard River and its communities. In
addition, Peter M. Lavigne (see partial bio
below) will act as the keynote speaker, and
there will be some light entertainment. Those
wishing to eat and socialize prior to the
meeting should be at Dido's no later than 6 p.m.
to enjoy a specially priced Shrimp or Chicken
Fettuccini dinner.
What a difference a year makes! A year has
passed since the first town hall meeting when
the public agreed to form a San Bernard River
community organization for the betterment of our
river - Friends Of the River (F.O.R.) San
Bernard.
In one short year, F.O.R. has created a website
with over 109,236 visits, named the
organization, adopted a mission statement and
by-laws, filed articles of incorporation, became
an IRS recognized 501(c)3 corporation and
elected their first Board of Directors. They
created a recognizable logo, flag, theme song
and their very own brand of gourmet sauces and
seasonings !
Friends Of the River cleaned up 26,000 pounds of
garbage from the river in the spring of 2006;
had four boat parades that, for the first time,
included all sections of the river in Brazoria
County. On National Night Out, F.O.R. visited
their neighbors on their first "Dock Hop" and
gave $1,000 to Brazoria County Parks Department
to install lights at the C.R. 521 and C.R. 2611
boat ramps.
F.O.R. also held the first annual symbolic "Can
You Dig It"? event to dramatize the river's
mouth being closed and hosted numerous dignitary
boat trips to the end of the river to raise
awareness of same and solicit support for their
number one goal -- open the river mouth. Over
124 printed newspaper/magazine articles about
the river and F.O.R. projects published. F.O.R.
was also spotlighted on a Channel 11 special
Dying River segment, held four public
meetings and recently added F.O.R. breakfast
socials held at Dido's on the first Saturday of
every month.
Friends Of the River also held an incredibly
successful fund raiser, raising over $26,000 for
the fledging organization. WOW ... what a great
year!
Please mark your calendar and plan to attend the
2nd annual F.O.R. Town Hall Meeting, February
24th, 7 p.m. at Dido's. Dinner at 6 p.m. -
Meeting 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Peter M. Lavigne - Bio
By Tom Valliere
Pete
Lavigne, M.S.E.L., J.D. is an environmental
attorney, organizer educator and writer. In July
2006 he was appointed Director of the Colorado
Water Workshop and Visiting Professor of
Environmental Studies at Western State College
of Colorado. An avid sea kayaker and mountain
climber, Peter founded and still teaches in the
Watershed Management Professional Program of the
Executive Leadership Institute and is an adjunct
Associate Professor in the Public Administration
Graduate Program and in the Leadership for
Ecology, Culture and Learning Program at
Portland State University, where he teaches a
variety of intensive courses in sustainability,
natural resources, and water policy.
He is
co-founder and a board member of the Rivers
Foundation of the Americas, (www.riversfoundation.org)
where he served as the first president and CEO
from 2000-2005. Among his efforts at the Rivers
Foundation was co-authoring the article
ReThinking Green Philanthropy with David W. Orr.
As
Director of River Network's national River
Leaders Program from 1992-1996 he formed the
River Alliance of Wisconsin and helped to start
or strengthen over twenty other state and
regional river watershed protection groups
throughout the United States and Canada.
For
more information, contact Pat or Connie Webb at
979-964-4503, or monitor this website.
This is the 2nd year of community service for
Friends Of the River San Bernard! Come and be a
part of an organization dedicated to making our
community a better place to live and play.
For more information on this upcoming event, you
can also call me at (979) 964-4332 Thank you for
your help in spreading the word about our
anniversary meeting.
Sincerely,
Jan Edwards, Director, P. R. Representative for
Friends Of the River San Bernard
Please accept this as your personal
invitation to join the anniversary celebration!
