Educational Paddle-Connecticut R & Boggy Meadows-Sat June 5

Jonah Center News

Educational Paddle

Saturday, June 5,

Launch time: at 9 a.m from Harbor Park near the boathouses.

Leader-Contact person: Beth Emery, ctladycyclist@gmail.com

Be part of the CT Trails Day Celebration and have a paddle! This event, co-hosted by the CT Forest and Park Association and The Jonah Center for Earth and Art, will take place in the lower Mattabesset and Coginchaug Rivers, as well as the Boggy Meadows where those two rivers converge. The tour departs from Harbor Park on the CT river in Middletown, Sat. June 5 at 9 a.m. Paddlers will return to the starting point between 12 and 1 p.m. Conditions permitting there will be 2 stops along a river bank. Paddlers need to provide their own boat, paddle, lifejacket, drinking water, snacks, sunscreen, and appropriate clothing.

River historian and environmental journalist Erik Hesselberg will provide us with a historical overview of how these rivers have been used, traveled and misused over the years. Trip participants will be encouraged to pick up plastic bottles, cans, and other debris as part of the Jonah Center’s ongoing effort to beautify and protect our local waterways.

This event is free and advance registration is not necessary. CT Forest and Parks requires that you sign a waiver form to participate.  Call (860) 984-6178 for more information or to learn about a possible last minute cancellation due to weather conditions or river waters above flood stage.

In the Mattabesset River,August 2008

Here we head upriver towards the two bridges

The Coginchaug River: Today and Tomorrow….

Today: Above video is record of my weekly walk along and around the Coginchaug in my neighborhood.

Tomorrow: (well, actually March 15) Coginchaug River Cleanup at Middletown North End Peninsula (recycling center) Saturday March 15 –  10 AM to Noon; Jonah Center’s John Hall reports:

The Jonah Center needs volunteers to help remove a lot of junk (fishing camp debris, old tires, plastic bottles, etc, ) from the bank of the lower Coginchaug adjacent to the recycling center. It is important to do this now, while there is no poison ivy growing, and before spring floods carry this stuff into the river.

Directions to Site: Go through the gate into the Middletown recycling center (at the intersection of North Main and Johnson Streets) in the North End. Bear to your left and park near the brush and wood chip piles.

If you plan to help with this effort, we suggest that you let John Hall know by visiting the Jonah Center web site and emailing from there or call (860) 346-6657 x 13, so he can inform you in case the event needs to be postponed due to weather or high water conditions.

 

Here’s a photo showing just a sampling of what was collected in the cleanup in July ’07: