This year’s seventh-annual Spokane River Clean-up was another smashing success. Thanks to everyone that took part, and we hope that you, like us, had a great, gratifying time!

Here are a few highlight statistics:

• Over 750 volunteers took part
• 16,447 pounds of trash collected (eight-plus tons), up from the 12,020-pound total last year
• 5,207 pounds of trash recycled by Earth Works Recycling - up from 4,101 pounds recycled in 2008

As in years past, a “Most Interesting Trash” competition was held, with judging in four categories performed by by Spokesman-Review columnist Doug Clark, with local artist and garbologist Gabriel Brown. For more on the winners, details on sponsors, links to on-line coverage and more, check out the FOF news release below. We’ve also prepared an image gallery of the U-District area effort, with images contributed by John Moore, and linked a second gallery of the High Bridge effort posted by Russ Nobbs.

But most of all, be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s event, to be held on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010!

News release (127 Kb, Acrobat® file)
2009 Snapshots - U-District (Flash™ gallery)
2009 Snapshots - High Bridge (Facebook™ gallery)

Last year’s Spokane River Clean-up had more volunteers, which gathered more trash than the year before...which bested the previous year...ditto the time before that...and the time before that.

So mark your calendars for Saturday, September 26, the date for this year’s Spokane River Clean-up, and plan to help keep the string of record-breaking years going. We’ve got an even larger coverage area - from the University District to Riverside State Park - so there’s more river shoreline to love, and more room for fantastic volunteers.

Click on the link below for tons of details about the event, including safety tips, what to bring and where we’ll be working. Check back after September 1 for our on-line pre-registration page

In the meantime, start recruiting your friends, class-mates, favorite group or club.

Love the Spokane River? Join about 800-1,000 folks from across our region in the annual Spokane River Clean-up. Saying “good riddance” to tons of trash is tons of FUN!

Clean-Up info page (weblink)

Much of the experience of a park or recreational activity is often related to the agency that oversees it. In Spokane, of course, that agency is the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, led by a volunteer Board and served by City staff.

Recently, the Department took the unusual step of beginning a comprehensive planning process for itself, led by a consultant group from Broomfield, Colorado called GreenPlay.

Here’s a copy of a press release issued by the Department on June 30, outlining dates and times for the first planning session, which will be held a total of six times on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 13-15. From the statement, the meetings “...will be held to gather opinions from residents regarding the Spokane community’s values and vision for the Parks and Recreation Department as it moves towards the future.”

The details:

Monday, July 13 – Southside Senior Activity Center Ballroom, 3151 E. 27th Avenue, from 7:30 – 9:30 am, or from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Tuesday, July 14 – East Central Community Center Gym, 500 S. Stone Street, from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Tuesday, July 14 – Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Wednesday, July 15 – Browne Elementary School (Multipurpose Room), 5102 N. Driscoll Boulevard, from 7:30 – 9:30 am, or from 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Interested? Mark your calendar for the most convenient date, time and place and make plans to offer your thoughts. The Department is asking attendees to call or e-mail Administrative Secretary Jacki Faught at 625-6203, jfaught@spokanecity.org, to RSVP.

Workshop Press Release (224 Kb, Acrobat® file)

On Tuesday, May 5, kayakers and supporters of the future gorge whitewater park will get a rare chance to see a kayak competition and meet one of the nation’s foremost experts on whitewater parks.

Both opportunities - a freestyle “Hydrotherapy Session” on the Spokane River near Liberty Lake, and an evening benefit dinner - involve a visit from Gary Lacey, an expert kayaker and designer of the Spokane whitewater park. Mr. Lacey will help judge the day’s competition, award prizes, and answer questions about Spokane’s future whitewater park.

The “Hydrotherapy Session” will begin at 6:00 pm on the river near Liberty Lake, and offer residents a taste of the action the whitewater park will soon bring to downtown Spokane. Admission is free for Friends of the Falls members; for non-members a $10 donation is suggested. The specific location for the competition will depend on river flows, so check the Hydrotherapy Session website for updates on location and logistics.

At 7:30 pm, all are invited to the benefit dinner at the Bitterroot Lodge in Liberty Lake’s River District, where Mr. Lacey will give a brief update on the Whitewater Park and award prizes for the day’s kayak events. Admission is just $25/plate, with complementary beverages. Proceeds will benefit Friends of the Falls.

Dinner seating is limited. RSVP today to Steve at FOF via . Folks that join or renew their Friends of the Falls membership by April 30 will receive dinner for free!

Don’t miss the chance to see what whitewater kayaking is all about - played out on the Spokane river, with insights and conversation with one of the best in the field - on Tuesday, May 5.

FOF thanks event sponsors Greenstone Homes, Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company, and Mountain Gear.

Join FOF today! (weblink)