F.O.R. San Bernard Activity Update
for March 2006

 


From: F.O.R. San Bernard
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 8:42 AM
To: Email_List
Subject: Monthly Update #1 from F.O.R. San Bernard

 
Greetings Friends of the River SAN BERNARD,

Thank you for subscribing to periodic email updates and notices from Friends of the River SAN BERNARD. This is the first of monthly email updates. Periodic notices will be sent as occasions present. Details to unsubscribe are at the bottom of this email.
 

Accomplishments in March

* New organization name: Friends of the River SAN BERNARD
* New mission statement
* New logo
* Website with many river resources and over 2,000 visitor every week
* Website ads generating $67 per month
* Discussion Forum with a section for buy/sell/trade
* Open meeting on March 29th with 65 attending
* Zones on the river defined
* Planned Beach Party event for April 8th
* Planning daytime Memorial Day River Parade for May 27
* Three news articles in The Facts, including two on the front page
* Worked with reporter for front page article in the Houston Chronicle 4/3/2006
* Worked with reporters from magazines for possible future articles
* Cash Donations of $270 received in March open meeting
* Database for our organization is underway
* Discussions underway with Congressman Ron Paul’s office for
   public meeting with LCRA regarding San Bernard Reservoir
* Established liaison with Phillips
* Generated from advertising on the web
* Established address of organization with a post office box
* Articles of organization are underway



 
Can You Dig It Event Planned at the Mouth THIS SATURDAY
Friends Of the River San Bernard (F.O.R. San Bernard), invite everyone to the mouth of the San Bernard River Saturday, April 8, 2006 for its first social event, Can You Dig It?, a picnic and fun in the sun from noon until attendees want to go home. Come and enjoy the San Bernard’s great beach, meet your neighbors, and help to symbolically “dig out the mouth of the river”.

For this event, please bring your favorite picnic lunch and beverages, lawn chairs, sunscreen, bug spray, life jackets for the children, and a small bucket and shovel. Bring your own boat (the channel averages 2 ˝ to 3 feet deep) and come to where the end of the river meets the beach. After you cross the Intracoastal Canal, watch for the crab trap floats and PVC pipes that mark the deepest channel.

If you don’t have a boat, bring your picnic supplies and life jackets to the boat ramp at the end of FM 2918. There will be boat shuttles from there to the party on the beach from noon until the last shuttle leaves the beach for the boat ramp at 6:00 p.m. sharp.

Plan on having your picnic and meeting your neighbors from about noon until 2 p.m. At 2 p.m., everyone will gather on the beach with their sand pails and shovels for a “dig out”. Party goers will line up from the river until people touching hands reach the Gulf, and then everyone can dig a pail of sand, symbolically opening a new channel to the Gulf. The press has been invited, and hopefully, a positive message about the river’s needs can be sung from the mouth of the “Singing River” to the world.  After the “dig out” there are several activities planned: kite flying, a treasure hunt and t-shirt printing for the kids, horseshoes, Tug - of - War, and pass the beach ball relays.

There are no bathroom facilities, but there will be camp style men’s and women’s privies. There will also be a couple of trash cans for your use, but please remove what trash you can. A tent for shade on the beach will also be provided.

Come to the river, enjoy the treasure it offers, have a safe and good time (F.O.R. San Bernard Organizing Committee is not responsible for accidents or injuries),  leave only footprints and send a message to the world that our river and our community needs a hand.

Everyone who lives on, is interested in, or has love for the San Bernard River is encouraged to attend. For more information, please monitor: www.sanbernardriver.com – or contact Pat or Connie Webb at 979-964-4503, Vanessa or Nelson Taylor at 979-964-4402, or Roy and Jan Edwards at 979-64-4332.

Organization Name, Logo and Mission Statement
By a vote of the river community, our organization is named “Friends of the River SAN BERNARD” and may be used as “F.O.R. San Bernard”. The new logo and mission statement were approved at the last meeting. The logo is displayed on the opening page of the website, www.SanBernardRiver.com. The logo depicts people on both sides of the river waving to symbolically unite for the welfare of the river.  The mission statement for Friends of the River SAN BERNARD is as follows:

MISSION STATEMENT: We will restore, protect, promote and ensure a clean, healthy, flowing San Bernard River for the sanity and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Front Page Article in The Chronicle
On Monday April 3rd, the San Bernard was front page news with photos in the Houston Chronicle. The article was about the consequences of the closing of the mouth.  Several other reporters have visited the river and the mouth in preparation for future articles in magazines.

Spring Clean-up
The Spring Cleanup is organized and managed by David Pope. It will be held on Saturday, April 29th. It’s a great way to help the river and meet other people on the river. Why not sign up to participate? You can work at one of the ramps, join a boat crew, or bring your boat.

The Discussion Forum
Tim and Rita Ellerd offered to take over the Discussion Forum and it is better than ever, with the ability to post photos. There's even a classified section!   If you haven’t visited and registered at the Discussion Forum, you might be missing something fun. The new discussion area is here:  http://forsbforum.com/phpbb/index.php

The Website
We hope you are enjoying our new website. On most weekdays, we post something of interest about the river.  We always looking for ideas, so if you have one, email any one of us at the addresses show at the bottom. A "River Calendar" is being maintained so that you can keep up with upcoming activities. The calendar can always be accessed via the menu on the front page. Here is the direct link.  Following are links to the daily postings for last month:

Mar 31 Boating Safety
Mar 30: Burn Ban Lifted
Mar 29: Three Aquifers under the river
Mar 27: Water Safety
Mar 27: The Junk Yard
Mar 24: River Memories
Mar 20: Tales from River's End
Mar 17: Letter from Comm. Dude Payne
Mar 16: Chronicle Reporter to the Mouth
Mar 15: More River Facts
Mar 14: Little San Bernard River
Mar 07: Org Name Announcement

Mar 06: Be Kind to our River
Mar 03: Park Commissioners Support San Bernard
Mar 03: Spring Clean Kickoff Meeting
Mar 02: Dams
Mar 01: Termite laden mulch-Beware
Mar 01: River Mouth Facts

Volunteer to Help the River
A form is available to VOLUNTEER to help the river. There are many categories to choose from.  It doesn't mean that you will be called on immediately, or that you are making a commitment. We are looking for the kinds of talent that exist on the river for our new database. Please consider filling out the form here. Many thanks to those who have volunteered.

Public Meeting March 29th
Our first public meeting was February 24th with about 120 people; our second public meeting was March 29th with about 65. You can read the notes from those meetings here:
   2/24/06 Meeting - Handout.
   
2/24/06 Minutes
   
3/29/06 Minutes

 


To Unsubscribe
You subscribed at our website to receive periodic email updates and notices from Friends of the River SAN BERNARD. To unsubscribe from e-mail updates, send an email to webmaster@sanbernardriver.com with the word unsubscribe as the Subject line. If you have questions about this message, please contact webmaster@sanbernardriver.com or any OC member listed below 

Pat & Connie Webb: patco@sanbernardriver.com
Roy & Jan Edwards: royjan@sanbernardriver.com
Nelson & Vanessa Taylor: rd@sanbernardriver.com
John & Jane Wallace: johnjane@sanbernardriver.com
Fred & Nancy Kanter: frednancy@sanbernardriver.com 
Tom Valliere: tom@sanbernardriver.com
Mark Hazelrigg: mark@sanbernardriver.com
Buddy & Eileen Kenneda: eileen@sanbernardriver.com

This update was prepared and sent by Eileen Kenneda, OC member and webmaster.