Down By the Riverside, 2008

More schools joined Down By the Riverside (DBtR) in Tillamook County in May of 2008, sponsored by TEP - Tillamook Estuaries Partnership in conjunction with Oregon SOLV. In addition to the schools of the Tillamook School District #9, Liberty and South Prairie, who have participated in DBtR at Hoquarton Sough for a number of years South County 3rd graders from Nestucca Valley, 3rd and 4th graders from Tillamook Adventist, students of Fire Mountain School, Garibaldi and Nehalem participated in DBtR activities.

DBtR 2008 for Liberty Elementary, Nestucca Valley Elementary, South Prairie Elementary and Tillamook Adventist School was held at the Hoquarton Interpretive Trail site in Tillamook, Oregon.

DBtR 2008 for the North County schools of Fire Mountain School, Garibaldi Elementary and Nehalem Elementary was held at Alder Creek Farm north of Nehalem.

The activities at Hoquarton Slough included the following:

• Art on the Dock, a creative art activity in which the students made elegant-looking weathergrams,
• Build a Bug, an activity during which the students learned about unique characteristics that insects have and included the dressing up of students with props that represented adaptations,
• Chips & Dips, a working activity during which students loaded bark chips donated by PUD into wheelbarrows and place the chips onto area trails,
• Let's Hear It for the Animals, an in-depth look at animal characteristics,
• Migration Headache, a very active activity that demonstrated the importance of safe waterways for migrating birds, and
• The Good, The Bad, The Riparian, and activity that taught students about native plants, invasive plants and healthy riparian plants.

The activities at Alder Creek Farm north of Nehalem included the following:

• Alien Invasion,a working activity in which students put sheets of thick cardboard down on areas of Reed's Canary Grass, an invasive species that takes over, and then covered the cardboard with bark chips that had been donated by Tillamook PUD and loaded into wheelbarrows by the students,
• Amazing Amphibians, an exciting look at a variety of amphibians that inhabit the area,
• Build a Bug, (See the explanation above.)
• Migration Headache, (See the explanation above.)and
• Wild Watershed Exploration, a hike through part of the local watershed and a look up close of some of the occupants of the watershed.

Instructors on Wednesday, May 7th at Alder Creek Farm were the following:

• Alien Invasion, Denise Lofman
• Amazing Amphibians, Chris Rombough
• Build a Bug, Claudine Rehn of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
• Migration Headache, Elizabeth Littlefield of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
• Wild Watershed Exploration, Peter Walczak of NeahKahNie School District

Instructors on Tuesday, May 13th at Hoquarton Slough were the following:

• Art on the Dock, Nancy Caslick
• Build a Bug, Claudine Rehn of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
• Chips & Dips, Laurie Lamb, of the Hoquarton Interpretive Trail Committee
• Let's Hear It for the Animals, Clair Thomas of School District #9
• Migration Headache, Elizabeth Littlefield of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
• The Good, The Bad, The Riparian, Tracy Crews of Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

Instructors on Thursday, May 15th at Hoquarton Slough were the following:

• Art on the Dock, Nancy Caslick
• Build a Bug, Claudine Rehn of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
• Chips & Dips, April Petersen, of the Hoquarton Interpretive Trail Committee
• Let's Hear It for the Animals, Clair Thomas of School District #9
• Migration Headache, Elizabeth Littlefield of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
• The Good, The Bad, The Riparian, Denise Lofman of Tillamook Bay Watershed Council

Many volunteers were involved in Down By the Riverside in addition to those who presented lessons. They included:

• Jane Brown
• Jean Hemingway
• Linda Josi
• Sharon Lighthill
• Lynn McCollum
• Julie Morgan
• Linda Saroni
• Terri Ann Stavens
• Tamora Walker

Thank you Lower Nehalem Community Trust for allowing us to use Alder Creek Farm for the North County DBtR!

Thank you Oregon SOLV for the grant money that provided half of the funding for porta potties, a new lighter wheelbarrow and rakes!

Thank you Tennity and Son for the donation of half of the price of the porta potties!

Thank you Tillamook Estuaries Partnership for providing the leadership and much of the materials!

Thank you Tillamook PUD for the deliveries of loads of chips!