Stones River Watershed

SRWA will hold its 7th annual business meeting on Saturday, March 20 beginning at 2 p.m. at the beautiful and historic Readyville Mill near Woodbury. We will be graciously hosted by owner Tomm Brady, whose meticulous work has restored the mill after decades of neglect. The mill was founded in 1812 and operated intermittently until 1979 as a grist mill, drawing its power from the East Fork of the Stones River. Now the mill is again producing high quality corn meal and other products.

Our program for the meeting will include a presentation by Beth Chesson, an engineer with CEC, Inc., on her current work to profile and develop remedial plans for Puckett Creek in Rutherford County.

If the weather improves a mite by that time a few hearty souls will float the river from the Arts Center of Cannon County to the mill. This will be an exploratory run in anticipation of the River Relay: Race to the Mill that is planned for April 3. If you’re interested in that part contact Randle Branch (randle.branch at gmail.com). This float is restricted to intermediate and advanced paddlers. All participants must provide their own boat and appropriate gear for the conditions.

Come out for a look at the mill, an interesting talk, a little business and some special refreshments. As an extra bonus, anyone who pays their $20 membership fee on that day will receive a free bag of freshly milled cornmeal.

Find some friends and get your registration in for this fun event on April 3. The race will start with a run from the top of beautiful Short Mountain in Cannon County to the Short Mountain School. There participants will mount their bikes and ride down the mountain and through the town of Woodbury to the Arts Center of Cannon County. From there, kayaks and canoes will be used for the last push to Readyville Mill.

This is not a highly competitive event and racers can choose to do one, two or three segments of the course alone or in a team. What’s more, almost the entire course is downhill! Registration is $25.00 and proceeds support projects of SRWA.

More information or to register.

When the days are short and the water is cold we set aside a Saturday to look ahead to the new year and plan our activities. This is an excellent opportunity to meet SRWA members and add your input for activities in 2010. We will meet from 9 a.m. to about 1 p.m. at the Smyrna Town Hall. The day includes a potluck meal and some quality social time along with the business. This always energizes us for another year. We hope you will come.

If you need further information contact srwa@stoneswatershed.org.

Dec. 5 Update. We are proceeding. The area north of Murfreesboro did not get a significant snowfall. Dress warmly.

We will work from 9 a.m. to noon. This partnership with the Friends of Long Hunter State Park will tackle decades of trash along a portion of the Volunteer Trail. Please be at the park headquarters by 9 a.m. We can use up to 25 people. It will be helpful if you let us know you’re coming by emailing Jim Barden (hogan_barden@ att.net). Wear warm clothes and sturdy shoes. Lunch will be provided after the event. Watch this site and for email updates as the date approaches.

UPDATE NOV. 6: The location of the float has been changed because the Corps of Engineers will be doing an unusually large release on Nov. 7. We will float in Murfreesboro, putting in at the Salem Pk/Hwy 99 crossing of the W. Fork and taking out at the Manson Pk. trailhead of the greenway system (near the intersection of Medical Center Pkwy. and Searcy St.) We will meet at the takeout at 9:30 and run shuttle from there.
The following link will take you to a map of the entire Stones River system. Click on “Manson Pike Trailhead” to see our section and take out location. We will shuttle to put in.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110312640387335344324.000448a728cdc3d0c5a51&z=10

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We will float from Percy Priest Dam to the Cumberland River. This event is held jointly with the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association. We hope weather will be good but plan for anything and watch for updates as the date approaches. This is a 6.7 mile trip but because of recent rains the Corps of Engineers will be releasing water from the dam with sufficient flow to get us to the Cumberland in 3-4 hrs with play and lunch time. We will meet at the east side of the river below the dam and begin our shuttle at 9:30. Takeout will be at Heartland Park. Email Randle.branch@ gmail.com to register and for details. There are a few extra boats if you have a need.

A workshop for teachers will be held at the Fairview Bldg. of MTSU on Saurday, Dec. 5. This is a repeat of a program that we did last year to train classroom teachers to involve students in monitoring the conditions of streams near their schools. The classes then take the data that they have gathered and log it into the international GLOBE site (www.globe.gov). Our trainer will again be Dr. Kim Sadler, Professor of Biology at MTSU and Director of the Center for Cedar Glade Studies.

Cynthia Allen, SRWA Board member and staff with the MTSU Center for Environmental Organization, is coordinating the day. Teachers who are interested in this session should contact her at 898-2660 or callen@ mtsu.edu. Participating teachers earn 6 hours of continuing education credits.

Thursday, Oct. 15 (3rd Thursday), 6:30 p.m. Everyone welcome. Room 202 Fairview Bldg., MTSU. The Fairview Bldg. is near the intersection of Greenland Dr. and Middle Tennessee Blvd. in Murfreesboro. It is in the neighborhood that is across Middle Tennessee from Murphy Center. Entrance is from Greenland or Crestland Dr.

Saturday, Sept. 26. This annual effort brings tens of thousands of volunteers to public parks and other sites nationwide to do help with maintenance and improvement. We have two sites in our area, at the Stones River National Battlefield and at Percy Priest Lake. To see these and all Tennessee sites: http://www.publiclandsday.org/involved/sites.htm?state=Tennessee. SRWA is listed as a partner for the Percy Priest site but we would love to have our members report for duty at both sites.

Friday, Sept. 18. This one-day workshop near Shelbyville will focus on how to increase public access to rivers for recreational purposes. See the Blueways webpage for more information.

Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 19-21. SRWA hosted Watershed Summit in 2007 and 2008. This year’s event will be held in the Duck River watershed near Shelbyville. See the Summit website for more information.