SunWatch Tour and Service

It was none other than a sunny day at the SunWatch Village. My fellow Stews and I, fresh out of orientation to the program, met and traveled to a unique place right here in the city of Dayton. Still learning what kind of people everyone was this trip really opened up each and everyone’s desire to learn and serve. The beginning portion of our trip consisted of a learning portion. We talked about the rich history at SunWatch consisting of the creation of the small village to its decline. Some unique facts about this village are the uncovering of rocks only native to the Gulf of Mexico and an ancient burial site right on the premise. We than transferred our focus to the serving side. Some picnic tables needed housed for the fast approaching winter months and we were just the right people to do it. We set a record time and built a little muscle doing it! It was such a special experience and definitely something I would like to experience again.

One fellow Stew...

- John Weniger
 

Canoeing at Camp Whip Poor Will

Last weekend, myself and three other Stewards spent our Saturday at Camp Whip Poor Will helping teach Girl Scouts how to canoe. It has been one of my favorite weekends this school year.

We started out in the campus ministry van, talking about our weeks, singing along to only the best cheesy radio pop and navigating our way there with absolutely no guidance from our smart phones (it was a proud moment). When we got there, a few of us realized we had been there as Girl Scouts and the nostalgia ensued. We realized what a great day it was going to be when we walked up to this: 

Cue the instagramming and the “ohmygosh this is so pretty”-s.

We met John, an energetic Girl Scout leader who is kind enough to spend EVERY weekend teaching Girl Scouts to canoe and, admittedly the most exciting part of the whole shebang, to tip their canoes. Additionally, he had two “program assistants”, girls in 8^th grade who also spend their weekends working with younger Girl Scouts, to help him.

We knew we would work with two groups of girls that day, but besides that we had little idea about how the day would go. So when John introduced us to them and sent us off in groups to teach them how to paddle, we jumped right in. Our first group was adventurous and almost all of them were happy to jump right into the canoes and spread out on the water. When it came time to tip the canoes, we got our workouts swimming out to and dragging back canoes that had been tipped over but never tipped upright. The second session went much the same, however when it came time to go out on the water I nabbed a “Fun-Yak” for myself instead of sharing a canoe with one of the girls.

This is a Fun Yak. And yes, they are fun.

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Sitting out on the lake/giant pond with the chaos of 20 Girl Scouts canoeing around me, I realized how good this day had been for me. I felt refreshed and light hearted and happy. I felt peaceful and like I could finally take a deep breath again. I had been stressing out over midterms, school, work, relationships, bills, cleaning my house and general life stressors all month and sitting there, I realized I completely forgot about all of it that day. When we got in the van to leave at the end of the day we all shared a similar sentiment.

On Friday, Leslie shared with me that she had run into one of the moms of the Girl Scouts who told her how much fun her daughter had. It made my heart happy to hear that the girls had also gotten a lot out of what was such a rewarding experience for us Stewards.

And now for some pretty pictures:

I can't even..can I just live here please?

Four happy Stews!

 As always, River Love!

Maddi

The RiverMobile and YSI work together to serve Mills Lawn Elementary School in Yellow Springs.

In case you were wondering where the RiverMobile was yesterday!

National Protect Your Groundwater Day on UD's campus; we heart our buried valley aquifer!

This is a great example of student leadership and successful partnerships.  Together we can accomplish so much!

Great work, River Stewards!  Keep spreading your love, passion and enthusiasm for our local water resources. We have  so far but still have a lot to accomplish in our region to help our community see our rivers/water as our greatest asset!

Coming Full Circle

This week marks the first week of my last year as a "UD" River Steward. Of course once a Stew, always a Stew, so I look forward to continuing my Stewardship for the rest of my life—in Dayton or elsewhere. 

Today, as I sat in my CEE 403 (Transportation Engineering) class, the professor asked the class “which mode of transportation was the first to be utilized”? Not including walking or riding animals, he explained that water-ways were the first mode of transportation. He explained that our Major cities are built around bodies of water (namely rivers) for that very reason. This statement triggered a flood of memories from my first orientation as a River Steward. I recalled a lecture by Dr. Pair about the formation of the Great Miami Valley Buried Aquifer, lessons about river life and general words of wisdom from Bro. Don Geiger, observing macro invertebrates, learning how to hold a kayak paddle with Amy and Eric, Leslie showing me how rivers are analogous to life, and much more.

In an unsuspecting way, things briefly came full circle for me. I was able to see how the learn, lead, serve theme has played out over the years. And now, as I embark upon my senior year, I’m excited to serve alongside the 2014 cohort. It has been a pleasant ride thus far, and I anticipate that the journey ahead will be fun, challenging, and filled with growth.

Here is to one more year!

Alexander

One Quick Summer!

Hello Readers, and happy end of July!

I would like to take a minute to say that I CANNOT BELIEVE MY SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER! Where did it go?!  I am sure that many other River Stewards are thinking the same thing.  I am also sure that I am not the only one who is really pumped for the upcoming paddle with the ‘baby’ stews! 

There are some good reasons that my summer has been such a whirlwind.  I started off the summer planning on staying home in Pittsburgh for the summer, but then I ended up with an internship in Dayton, living on Wright State University’s campus and going back home most weekends to spend time with my family and animals (animals being 4 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 horses... not to mention the 2 pigs!). 

So, what does one do with their free time when living in an apartment at WSU? Visit Huffman Dam!  Huffman Dam is really beautiful, especially at sunset ,and is only a few miles from where I have lived this summer.  It is a great place to go on a run to, and stop and take a moment to enjoy the trees bending softly into the Mad River as you stand on top of Huffman Dam.  Don’t forget about Huffman Lake, a truly hidden gem tucked above the Dam just around the river bend (the Pocahontas pun was intended!).  Also, a new section of the bike trail was just completed at Huffman Dam, check it out!  

Huffman Dam is not the only Five Rivers MetroPark that I have been able to explore!  I have climbed the tree tower at Cox Arboretum, explored small paths at Wegerzyn Gardens, gazed at the city of Dayton from Deeds Point, seen children enjoying the water feature at Island MetroPark, and of course been involved in the sights and sounds of Dayton at RiverScape!  I would highly recommend taking a bike or jogging shoes from RiverScape (or campus!) and head along the Mad River Bikeway where you can pass through Deeds Point, Island MetroPark, and stop at Wergerzyn Gardens to enjoy a breather and some beautiful plant life!  

It is an awesome way to enjoy several MetroParks in one day!

As the summer is coming to a close I am getting ready for my junior year.  My books should be arriving soon and before I know it I will be back at UD sitting in KL.  The only problem is that I am beginning to have the reoccurring dream that I missed my first class and I was not prepared at all for school… 

River Love,

Rachel

Electrical Engineering Major

2015 Cohort

Ciao da bella Firenze!

I am just about a week into my study abroad experience and I am loving every second of it. Leaving this beautiful city will be very hard, although I am excited to get back to Dayton and join my fellow stews as a River’s Institute Intern!

Running through Florence is the Arno river, which I am fortunate to be staying only a block away from. Each morning I cross a bridge to get to my classes, and through my classes I have learned a lot of the significance of the Arno River in Florence’s history. Unlike many of the other Tuscan towns which are located on hilltops, Florence is in a valley. Florence was never troubled with water shortages, the sanitation and hygienic practices were historically superior than other cities, fish was a staple product, and mills along the river allowed for manufacturing. Despite all the benefits, the river still is prone to flooding, and there are chronicles dating back to the medieval times of the devastation caused by the floods at least once or twice each century. The most recent massive flood occurred on November 4^th, 1966, and was considered to be the worst flood since 1557.  The floodwaters reached over 6.7 meters (22 feet) at some places. This flood had a lasting impact on the city, and restoration work is still being done to this day.

While walking around the city, I found one of the high water markers from the flood. Looks very similar to what we have in downtown Dayton!

Another cool thing about Florence is all the parks and gardens available for the citizens and tourists. I happened to pick up a newspaper in Florence that was written in English, and there was a short article about the green space in the city. Here is quote from the mayor of Florence: “There are 376 gardens and 25 parks in Florence, totaling more than 3.5 million square meters of public green space… we have also approved a ‘zero volume’ structural plan, which means putting a stop to land consumption, and ensuring there is a park or garden no more than 10 minutes away from the house of every Florentine.” Awesome!

 Arno at sunset

The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") 

The low dam

River Love, 

Stephanie