Waterway Views
The Haywood Waterways Association, Inc.
WINTER 2014
Water Restoration Fund Established
Starting January 1, 2014, Haywood Waterways established a new fund dedicated
to stream restoration work. The purpose of the Water Restoration Fund is to provide
fast access capital to implement small-scale stream restoration projects. We frequently encounter these opportunities that directly benefit water quality and aquatic organisms, such as riparian plantings, rain gardens, and stream bank erosion control
measures, but do not have the funding in place. Eligible projects will typically range
from $1,000 to $10,000. In the past, funding typically came from large 319 Program,
Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and Pigeon River Fund grants. However,
those take time to go through the grant-making process and are not guaranteed.
Having quick access to funding will expand our abilities and help residents and
public organizations promote clean water throughout Haywood County.
Welcome to our
newest members:
• Beth and Andrew Causey
• John Davis
• Sandy Langer
• Ralphene Rathbone
• Warren and Karen Sidle
Our Thanks to the Pigeon River Fund for supporting HWA
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Staff
Eric Romaniszyn
Executive Director
Christine O’Brien
Project Assistant
Richard T. Alexander
Derric Brown
Bill Eaker
Steve Fraley
Yvonne Kolomechuk
Marty Prevost
Clark Williams
Steve Winchester
Bill Yarborough
Board of Directors
Yvonne Hannah: President
Alric Clay: Vice President
Don Ebaugh: Treasurer
Vacant: Secretary
TO:
P.O. Box 389, Waynesville, NC 28786
It’s Crystal Clear and Starts Right Here…Our Water
Membership and Donation Form
Name: ______________________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________
City: ____________________________ State: _______ Zip: ________________
Phone: __________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________
1-Year Membership Dues: (10% off for 2-year membership)
Benefactor $1,000 Patron $500 Donor $200 Sponsor $100 Supporter $50 Contributor $25 Student $10
Donations:
Joetta Rinehart Endowment Fund: $______ Kids in the Creek Fund: $______ Water Restoration Fund: $ ______
Soy ink on 20%
Write Check Payable to:
Haywood Waterways Association, Inc.
post consumer paper
828-476-4667
- FSC certified.
PO Box 389, Waynesville, NC 28786
Credit cards accepted at: www.haywoodwaterways.org
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“It’s Crystal Clear & Starts—
Right Here — Our Water”
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Haywood Waterways Association, Inc.
Honoring 2013’s Water Champions
Every year we have the pleasure of working with many individuals and organizations striving to
help keep our waterways clean. We honored a few of those at the 2013 Annual Membership Dinner
on December 5.
The Haywood County Environmental Health Department
was recognized as Partner of the Year for their work to identify
and repair failing septic systems. Since 2006, their partnership
with Haywood Waterways has helped acquire $134,000 in grants
to assist homeowners in need. Most of those funds helped low
to very low income households who otherwise could not afford
to make the repairs.
Haywood County Environmental
The grant funds enabled 31 septic systems repaired, which
Health Department (L to R): Garron
Braddish, Seth Early, Steve Valentine eliminated as much as 11,000 gallons of untreated waste from
flushing into streams each day. Since the partnership began, bacteria levels in Richland Creek and other streams have dropped significantly.
Haywood Waterway’s Volunteer of the Year was Richard Alexander. Dick was honored for his many years of service and
dedication to the waterways of Haywood County. In the early
1990’s, Dick saw a need for Haywood County citizens to take
responsibility for keeping their waterways clean. He helped start
a program called Project Pride to raise awareness of litter, which
eventually gave rise to Haywood Waterways. Dick has been on the
Haywood Waterways Board of Directors since day one and continues to serve. He’s also been a long-time volunteer in the Vol- Richard Alexander with son Tom
unteer Water Information Network (VWIN) program. The water chemistry monitoring program
was launched in 1996 and he was one of the original volunteers collecting samples. Dick believes
Haywood County water quality has greatly improved in recent years and at age 96, he remains active, even helping deliver for Meals on Wheels.
The Pigeon River Award was given to the Bethel Rural Community Organization. This award is given to an individual or
organization that has made a significant contribution to protecting the land and water resources of Haywood County. Through
community outreach, grant writing, and positive relationships
with landowners, the organization has assisted with eight permanent conservation easements protecting 268 acres, including
more than 50 acres of floodplain and 12,000 feet of stream and
river frontage. They have helped landowners register more than
Bethel Rural Community Organiza- 1,000 acres into the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District
tion: (front) Pat Carr, Steve Sorrells, program, which protects farmland and restricts development.
They also advise landowners throughout the county about these
Bill Holbrook, (middle) Ted Carr,
Evelyn Coltman, George Ivey,
land protection tools, in turn protecting hundreds of rural acre(back) Dick Coltman
age throughout the Pigeon River watershed. Land protection is
a valuable tool for keeping Haywood County streams healthy for all users.
David Curphey, President of the Bethel organization, said, “It is very gratifying that HWA recognizes the diligent work we do in farmland preservation and water quality improvement. The Bethel
and Cruso areas are the headwaters of the Pigeon River, so the work we do has significant effect on
the entire river.”
Financial support for Haywood Waterway’s membership dinner was provided by Derric and
Donna Brown, HomeTrust Bank, Keller Williams Realty, Pigeon River Fund of the Community
Foundation of Western NC, Town of Clyde, and Town of Waynesville.
The Haywood Waterways Association, Inc.
Polar Plunge Conquers the Ice!
The Haywood Waterways Association, Inc.
2014 Polar Plunge Plungers
The 2nd Annual Polar Plunge Benefit-t-t-ting Kids in
the Creek & Youth Education was another tremendous
success. After expenses, the event raised $15,800, all for
Kids in the Creek and our other youth education events.
More than 200 spectators lined the fence to watch 79
plungers brave the icy waters of Lake Junaluska, more
than twice as many as last year, and by ice we mean literally five inches thick! Great photos and a video can be
seen at http://tinyurl.com/k5qcpyj.
It was a close race for the Top Fundraiser Award. Marty Stamey, former County Manager, raised $1,700, just
a few dollars ahead of Ryan Eaker. Ryan was at least consoled when he watched his father, Bill, forced to plunge
in a wedding dress when he lost their Trash Your Dress challenge. Other Top Fundraisers include Joy Garland
(Clyde Town Manager), Marcy Onieal (Waynesville Town Manager), The Falcon (a.k.a. Ben Butler with Shining
Rock Classical Academy), and Jason Burrell (Canton Town Manager), though we would list all 52 challengers if
we had room (thank you all!; visit www.crowdrise.com/2NDPOLARPLUNGE for the complete list). The Best
Costume Award was also a close race with Voodoo Chicken Man (a.k.a. Shannon Rabby, Haywood Community
College professor) winning over Sally Hollifield in her Balloon Clown costume and Marcy Onieal as Mad Anthony Wayne.
Special thanks to all the volunteers that helped make it a success, including emcee
Top Fundraiser Kerry Carreno for the lively Master of Ceremonies and keeping us on track; DJ “Master P”
Marty Stamey
(Frank Pollifrone) and Strains of Music for the great music and festive vibe; Bill and Susan
Wilkins, Andrew Bowen, and Ben Green for the laborious task of cutting a hole in the ice, for that we are deeply appreciative; the Town of Waynesville for having Emergency Medical Services on site; RCF Construction for helping get
the beach in top condition; Rikki Tikki Tees for the great deal on tshirts; Smoky Mountain News, The Mountaineer
Newspaper, and Asheville Citizen Times for press coverage; Fred Alexander for volunteering as event photographer;
Graham Ebaugh for building the bonfire; all the tremendous support from the business community (see adjacent
list); and finally, Jack Ewing, Don Ebaugh, Ben Green, James Calloway, Justin Messer, Jason Moore, Gary Williams,
Travis Webb and Mike (Fuzz) Moorefield at Lake Junaluska Assembly for site prep and use of their great facilities.
Watch for the 3rdAnnual Polar Plunge announcement coming later this year!
Nature Corner–Water Striders
(Family: Gerridae)
Haywood Early College Students
Send Messages about Water Quality
This bug has many names. You might know it as a water skipper, pond skaters, water spider, magic bugs, Jesus
bug or water strider. Whatever you call it, this insect is a
member of the Gerridae family in the order Hemiptera,
or “true bugs”. There are 1,700 different water striders
species world-wide, most are freshwater but a few are marine. The photo is of the common water strider (Gerrisremigis). This species of water strider can grow up to a
half inch in body length. You can find common water
striders gracefully gliding across the surface of stagnant or
calm waters of a lake, pond or backwater areas in streams.
Water striders are able to float on water because they have
special hairs on the bottom of their legs that allow them
to capture air and repel water. Water striders are predators
and use the water surface tension to locate prey. Their
primary foods are insects and spiders that fall in the water.
They use their mouth part for sucking and piercing its
meal, not biting. Water striders are excellent at detecting
movements on the water surface, but are unable to detect underwater movement or movement in the air above
them, which make them vulnerable to predation by fish
and birds. However, they do secrete a repellant from their
scent glands that makes them very unappealing to fish.
Fifteen students from Haywood Early College enjoyed
a beautiful fall day stenciling eleven storm drains around
the Haywood Community College campus. The message
read “Don’t Dump - Drains to Pigeon River.” The students were excited to be a part of the movement spreading the word about keeping Haywood County waterways
clean. “The Haywood Early College Environmental Club
considered it a privilege to be able to participate in the
hands-on service activity”, said Sherrie Tew, teacher sponsor of the club. The stencils will raise awareness about
what happens to trash or toxic fluids once they enter a
storm drain.
Best Costume - Voodoo Chicken Man
(Shannon Rabby) casts a spell on the water
Polar Plunge Business Sponsors
Haywood Waterways sincerely appreciates the support from many local and regional businesses at the 2014 Polar Plunge. These are:
$500 or more --------------------------------------------Smoky Mountain News
Mountaineer Publishing
Lake Junaluska Assembly
Keller Williams Professionals
Gahagan Black & Associates, PLLC
RCF Construction
Duke Energy Progress
“Master P” DJ
$250 to $499 ----------------------------------------------Balsam Spa at the Waynesville Inn
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated
Rikki Tikki Tees
Santek Waste Services
Town of Clyde
$100 to $249
A+ Appraising
Clean Sweep - The Fireplace Shop
Chris Forga Rentals
Design Group Associates
Mike Gillespie, DDS
Dr. Kristen Hammett
Joey’s Pancake House
McGill Associates, P.A.
Mountain Environmental Services
Mountain ReMax Realty/Ron Breese
Smith Engineering & Design
Southard Nowak Communications
State Farm Insurance
Sunburst Trout Farms
Tech Strategics Consulting
Town of Waynesville
Waynesville Properties/Boyd Family
WEBBCO Inc.
$0 to $99 ------------------------------------------------------AKJ SiteWorks
Bret Pacheco, CPA
Consolidated Waste Services
Dr. John Highsmith, DDS
Ed Kelly.com
Frog Pond Downsizing
GalloLea Pizza Kits
General Insurance Agency
Dr. Craig Gibson
Ingles
Kim’s Pharmacy
Lipkin Surveying
Maggie’s Galley
Pet Vet on Patton
Realty World Heritage Realty
Saki Sushi
Steeplechase Toffee
Strains of Music
Tweety’s Nails
Twigs & Leaves Gallery
White Fox Studios
Top Fundraisers, Best --------------Costumes, and Door Prizes
(valued at over $1,600!)
Ammons Drive-In
Bearwaters Brewing Company
Biltmore Estate
Blue Rooster Southern Grill
www.haywoodwaterways.org
Bogart’s Restaurant & Tavern
Bourbon Barrel Beef & Ale
Cherokee Santa Land
Clark Tire
Country Vineyard Café
Frankie’s Italian Trattoria
Great Smoky Mountain Railroad
Haywood Smokehouse
Hurleys Creekside Dining
Joey’s Pancake House
J. Arthur’s Restaurant
Lake Junaluska Golf Course
Maggie Valley Country Club
Mast General Store
Nico’s Cafe
Pasquales’s Pizzeria & Tapas Bar
Sid’s on Main
The Swag Country Inn
Tipping Point Tavern
Waynesville Recreation Center
Common water strider (Gerris remigis)
© Pali | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images
After each rain the water that flows across parking lots
picks up trash, oil, gasoline, fertilizer, herbicides, pet feces, bacteria, viruses and other toxic chemicals and sends
them straight into storm drains. Once in the drain the
water goes untreated to the nearest waterway where it can
harm aquatic life, be hazardous to human and livestock
health, and diminish the aesthetic value of streams. Caring for our streams is simple and proper trash disposal is
an easy place to start. Car owners can make sure their car
is properly tuned and that there are no leaking fluids. Pet
owners can be diligent about cleaning up after their pet.
Homeowners can make sure they follow directions when
adding fertilizer or herbicide to their grass or garden and
avoid applying before a heavy rain. These simple steps can
make a big difference when it comes to protecting our
streams.
“Promote Clean Water...Eat an Oyster!”
The Smoky Mountain Oyster and Seafood Festival will be April 19, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm at the
Maggie Valley Fairgrounds. A portion of the proceeds will support Haywood Waterways.
www.smokymtnoysterfest.com
www.haywoodwaterways.org