Riverfest Promotes Use of Housatonic; Cleans Up Pittsfield Park
Various organizations brought out display tables to educate people about the ecosystem.
The group held a river festival on Saturday, when dozens of volunteers and numerous environmental groups cleaned up Fred Garner park, provided information and education about the Housatonic River, and welcomed paddlers canoed all the way to the Long Island Sound to promote the river.
"We started out with about 21 boats yesterday. ... We expect to have 126 boats in total joining us. We'll get to Long Island Sound by May 1," said Lynn Werner, executive director of the Housatonic Valley Association. "It's to bring awareness to the river and how it has come back from abuse."
From natural beauty to the wildlife, the entire ecosystem along the river is being promoted to show people the benefits of the natural resource. The river is the focus of the Housatonic Valley Association, which has worked to preserve the system for the last 75 years.
"We work from the top of the watershed all the way to the Long Island Sound," Werner said.
The trip hasn't been easy so far. In just the first day, the paddlers ran into dozens of beaver dams. And when they get to the end, the final stretch goes against the current.
There will be an array of events coupled with the canoe trip all the way south. Pittsfield's stop on Saturday included the festival, in which other conservation groups joined. The groups had informational tables, the city provided recycling bins to give away as well as two compost bins and two bulky waste stickers. Coupled with those informational tables, the volunteers cleaned up the park.
"We wanted people to do something as well as learn something," Alison Dixon, community engagement manager for HVA, said.
Dixon said the group teamed up with Berkshire Environmental Action Team to organize the event. The tables focused on providing information about the water ecosystem as well as simple things residents can do to improve water quality.
"The idea was to get across some good habits to adopt," Dixon said.
The river weaves through the city and has a well known history of pollution from the Pittsfield's former industrial years. But, the river has been becoming healthier and is still a resource.
In promotion of the river, Werner said the organization runs other program beyond trying to protect the watershed. She said there are organized canoe trips for both adults and children to experience what the outdoors has to offer.
"We do paddling trips for adults and we've started to do the same for kids and many of them have never been on the river," Werner said.
She said it is "transformative" for many of the teens who take the trips. For those who are younger, seeing and handling river critters — collected by environmentalist to assess water quality — does the same. Werner said when the young boys feel the critters in their hands or girls kiss a frog, the technology so many children bury their face is becomes an after thought.
The river is a natural resource that the Housatonic River Association wants others to appreciate it and protect it.
Tags: cleanup, Housatonic, riverfest,
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