left to right: Freehome area girl scout troop Feb. 20th
Kevin teaching the Enviroscape at Aronold Mill ES - Feb. 22nd
Lori Forrester
teaching Build-a-river - Feb. 22nd
left to right: Liz Porter reading about dragonflys to the students.
UERA presenter, Deborah Millsap with one of the classes learning about what a river is made of.
Snow Along The Etowah
Etowah at Hwy 9 in Dawsonville
Buck Jones Nursery Makes Donation to the Upper Etowah River Alliance
Mrs. Diane Minick, Director of the Upper Etowah River Alliance a local nonprofit watershed education organization based in Canton, accepted a check from Buck Jones Nursery's “Gardeners Helping the Community” customer membership program. Tommy Nobis III, Manager of Buck Jones Nursery started the program “Gardeners Helping the Community” in 2009 with their customers and community in mind. Mr. Nobis says he offered the idea to Mrs. Minick, because he could see her passion for the Alliance and knows how important an organization like the Upper Etowah River Alliance is to the community in helping protect the Upper Etowah Watershed.
The program was quite successful, Buck Jones Nursery was proud to announce that the program raised $3,500.00 for the Upper Etowah River Alliance. A check was presented to Mrs. Minick of the Upper Etowah River Alliance on February 9, 2010. She indicated that these funds would go directly to their education programs. The Alliance offers a large number of educational programs to schools, civic and any other community groups, as well as rain barrel building classes and Adopt-A-Stream classes.
Buck Jones Nursery continues to offer their “Gardeners Helping the Community” membership this year and 80% of the membership proceeds will go to the Upper Etowah River Alliance once again. Benefits include a member discount on non-sale plant material for (1) year, special member only sale days, and a 6-month guarantee on the plant material. New for the program in 2010, members will receive a discount on stone, wall block and patio block materials.
Buck Jones Nursery is family-owned and is located in Hickory Flat on Highway 140 east of the intersection of East Cherokee Drive and Highway 140. Buck Jones Nursery offers a full line of plants and landscape products including a large number of native plants and organic products for landscapes. Buck Jones Nursery partnered with the Alliance as they built their unique garden-based stormwater control landscape at their central office, located at 180 McClure St. in Canton next to the American Legion. The nursery provided a large variety of drought-tolerant plants, many of which are native to this region.
Mrs. Minick said, “Buck Jones Nursery is a very special organization. They offer quality products and have a genuine concern for our watershed. We are proud to partner with this wonderful organization and look forward to working with them to provide unique education opportunities for their customers about drought-tolerant landscaping as well as landscaping for stormwater control.”
Diane Minick presents Martha Hout from the Funk Heritage Center with the Partnership Award.
Diane Minick presents Duncan Cottrell with the Stan Hall Award.
Melissa Rottenberg and Lori Forrester, holding daughter Carolyn, share a laugh after receiving the Chairperson's Award.
The Upper Etowah River Alliance has been busy begininng our new 319 grant and investigating various ways to educate folks about water pollution. One of the projects funded by the grant is a raingarden at the Funk Heritage Museum at Reinhardt College. The building had drainage problems with the water coming from the roof and the new series of raingardens addresses this issue. In addition, it adds a beautiful, educational tool to the museum's grounds. Many of the plants were donated by the Georgia Native Plant Society, and much of the landscaping planning and work was donated by Bill Ross. Many thanks to Martha Hout and Joe Kitchens of the Funk Center, for their hard work on this project.
Pictured: A butterfly garden next the Funk Heritage Museum
Kids from R.M. Moore Elementary show off dragonflies they made with the help of Alliance volunteers, Lori Forrester and Jennifer Lowe. The students got to spend time learning more about the amazing creatures of the watershed. Thanks to MACTEC for the dragonfly kits!
Congratulations! To Diane Minick, the Alliance's Board Chair, who was chosen as Volunteer of the Year by the Georgia River Network. Diane was given her well-deserved award at the GRN Annual Conference
in Milledgeville.
Mrs. Diane Minick, Director of the Upper Etowah River Alliance a local nonprofit watershed education organization based in Canton, accepted a check from Buck Jones Nursery's “Gardeners Helping the Community” customer membership program. Tommy Nobis III, Manager of Buck Jones Nursery started the program “Gardeners Helping the Community” in 2009 with their customers and community in mind. Mr. Nobis says he offered the idea to Mrs. Minick, because he could see her passion for the Alliance and knows how important an organization like the Upper Etowah River Alliance is to the community in helping protect the Upper Etowah Watershed. 
The 7th Annual "Protect The Etowah River" Cleanup 
The Upper Etowah River Alliance has been busy begininng our new 319 grant and investigating various ways to educate folks about water pollution. One of the projects funded by the grant is a raingarden at the Funk Heritage Museum at Reinhardt College. The building had drainage problems with the water coming from the roof and the new series of raingardens addresses this issue. In addition, it adds a beautiful, educational tool to the museum's grounds. Many of the plants were donated by the Georgia Native Plant Society, and much of the landscaping planning and work was donated by Bill Ross. Many thanks to Martha Hout and Joe Kitchens of the Funk Center, for their hard work on this project. 
