Archive for July, 2012

THIS SATURDAY…come ON

Friday, July 13th, 2012

little waterkeeper logo
Hello River Lovers,
~ONLY THIS SATURDAY~

River Rummage Sale ~ THIS Saturday July 14 – First Day of the 3 Rivers Festival Parade – on the Historic Wells Street Bridge – Behind Wells St. and Superior St. in downtown Fort Wayne…just off the parade route.  BIG, LARGE, HUGE SALE! 8am-5pm  – Proceeds go to Lake Erie Waterkeeper, Save Maumee Program for true river improvements.

SaveMaumeeLogo 2


Come buy our stuff! Come on, you’ll already be downtown for the parade and 3 Rivers Festival

  • 5 semi-trucks full of STUFF you can re-purpose with your purchase!  THANK YOU for your kind and generous donations!
  • Bring your dead batteries and we will dispose of them properly ~ DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY ~ FREE DISPOSAL
  • Waterbarrel demonstration = FREE LEARNING
  • Repurposed art = FREE THINKING
  • Chaff plantings = FREE STUFF
  • Food Not Bombs feeding us from NOON-2pm = FREE FOOD
  • Meet our hard-working unpaid river volunteers = FREE HELP

river rummage

Other Upcoming Events:

** 1st Monday of every month – Public meetings for river action and are looking for your inputon ways to truly improve waterways tangibly 7-8:30pm at Halls Gas House on E. Superior St. – Next meeting is August 6th

**1st & 3rd Tuesdays – EcoWalk Work Group – corner of Niagara Dr. & N. Anthony Blvd. 4-5pm

**September 8, 3rd Annual Save Maumee Benefit Show...local, live and FUN entertainment at VIP Lounge on HWY 24 (still working on details)

**September 15, 6th Annual Canoe Clean-Up, Can YOU Clean-Up  – Fort Wayne Outfitters/Bike Depot on Cass St. 11am-3pm

**October 20  5th Annual Seed Harvest at Little River Wetlands Project 1pm-4pm

**8th Annual Earth Day Celebration and Cleanup 2013 – THE BIG ONE!  May be a few changes this year…stay tuned



So, if you are wondering what Save Maumee has been doing since Earth Day…it is amazing! YOU should be involved!

In 2012 ALONE with ONLY unpaid volunteers we have:

  • Planted 200lbs of native riparian seed on local riverbanks
  • Planted 100 native trees at Earth Day while removing 4,000lbs of trash from Fort Wayne’s Rivers
  • 8th Annual Earth Day event attracted almost 400 volunteers
  • Learned and taught about living-on-the-land & homesteading
  • Removed invasives such as garlic mustard and teasel from nearby river areas
  • April 2012 Edition – Fort Wayne Monthly Magazine
    Save Maumee’s Abigail King is featured in “20 Questions”
  • Save Maumee made it into the “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame”!  We were in the credits for Dean Jay’s Documentary!
    Nova Rex – It Ain’t Easy Being Cheezy
  • Represented northeast Indiana in Washington D.C. for Clean Water Week’s, Great Lakes Days from 2008 to 2012
    CLICK HERE for our 2012 Newsletter – D.C. Edition
    CLICK HERE to read who we met with, and what we said:
  • Sat at many river meetings, to represent the health of our waterways and the citizens that depend on clean water
  • Polar Bear Jumping at Johnny Appleseed Park on New Year’s Day
  • Attended the largest ever National River Rally in Portland, Oregon and met with Robert Kennedy Jr.
  • Spoke at local colleges & for the Girl Scouts
  • Held an aquaponics workshop to teach how to set-up a fish and food growing operation in your backyard, with aquaponics expert Ernest Rando
  • Raised awareness about our waterways SUCCESSFULLY!


Lake Erie Waterkeeper Inc., a chapter of the international organization Waterkeeper Alliance, Executive Board voted to make Save Maumee responsible for the Maumee River! We joined forces with Lake Erie Waterkeeper to further our work and our message!  Thank you Heartland Communities as we leave your gracious fiscal sponsorship and align with Waterkeeper Alliance – WE LOVE YOU!

All our money comes from our fundraisers and kind individual donors…so give till it hurts…OUCH…or bring your $ to the River Rummage Sale!

Other things you should know:

  1. Overall, contaminants in Indiana waterways include pesticides, priority organics, copper, lead, ammonia, cyanide, low dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids and chlorides, habitat alterations, oil and grease.  30,321,380 lbs of toxic chemicals are released per year into our waterways.
  2. Indiana – 29 percent of all beach water samples had bacteria levels higher than public health standards allow, according to the NRDC’s 22nd annual “Testing the Waters” study.  Beaches were closed 379 times in Indiana in 2011 due to public health standards for safety.
  3. Indiana State issues call to reduce use of water in drought
  4. Cleaning up rivers is the right thing to do, and “initiatives to decrease sewage flowing into rivers would never have happened but for government intervention.”
  5. In 2008, Indiana was the seventh-largest source of mercury pollution in the country, according to the EPA’s most recent figures.
  6. Which fish have the highest Mercury content?