Currents - September 2014

Don’t forget to register for the 18th Annual Clean Your Streams Day on Saturday, September 20th, 2014! We are getting ready for our largest, most productive Clean Your Streams event to date and we need to know if you will be joining us. Your last chance to register is Wednesday, September 10th, so don’t delay! With your help, we can make a positive difference on the dozens of miles of stream banks in the greater Toledo area, covering 5 different major watersheds. Over the last seventeen years, our volunteers have removed over 90 tons of trash from these waters. After a morning of cleaning, volunteers join us at the Appreciation Picnic for a thank you lunch, door prizes, Challenge Competition Awards (including the new Change for Change Competition), and much more! If you are already planning on joining us for the largest river cleanup in the area, follow us on Twitter at @PCSMaumee by using #CYS18, and join the 18th Annual Clean Your Streams Facebook event!

Register Now to make a huge impact in your local waterways as a volunteer or site captain by September 10^th. Don't for get to sign the required liability form! And to be part of something bigger -- part of an international cleanup, part of improving aesthetics in the Area of Concern (a program to cleanup important Great Lakes areas), and part of taking care of your community. See you in the streams!

Even though habitat and lake restoration was completed almost two years ago, work has not stopped at Camp Miakonda. Throughout the summer, Cub Scouts and visitors of all ages have been guided around Lake Sawyer, along the Ottawa River, and next to the tributaries, by eight educational signs. Each sign describes part of the camp’s history, our habitat restoration techniques, and native plants and animals. These signs encourage interactive education and instill a greater awareness of the camp’s thriving wetlands, streams, river, and lake. Next time you are out at camp, check out the signs. We imagine you'll learn something interesting!

Scouts will soon be able to take their own samples of the river and check out the variety of macroinvertebrates living in the river with sampling kits we will provide, including kick seine nets, sampling jars, identification cards, and more. By sampling the insects that live in the river bed, Scouts can learn about the overall health of the stream, while exploring and better understanding the ecology of the camp. We have been working with our plant, insect, and stream experts to monitor the tributaries and river health. So far, the results are looking positive. We will continue to monitor the health of the river, while watching insect populations grow and plants establishing themselves along the banks. Many Scouts, and other visitors, will surely enjoy Camp Miakonda’s beautiful educational area this fall and for many seasons to come.