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entertaining u newspaper: your monthly guide to entertainment
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Getting Down With Diving
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by kellie abrahamson
kabrahamson1@aol.com
If you happen to love being out on the water, there’s nothing like living in Jacksonville. Besides having the Atlantic Ocean to our east, we also have the mighty St. Johns River and its tributaries flowing through the city. That means we have plenty of bridges, beautiful views and every reason in the world to protect it. As citizens of this great city, it’s our job to work toward a cleaner river and to teach our children, the future men and women of Jacksonville, to do the same.
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Thanks to the St. Johns Riverkeepers, EU got the opportunity to explore the river with a group of kids from The Sanctuary on 8th Street last month. The 2-hour boat ride was a first for some of these kids and the lessons that they learned that morning will hopefully stay with them for a long time.
I met the group of about 20 kids, chaperones and Riverkeepers at Friendship Park where everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of our vessel, one of the water taxis that shuttle people from bank to bank each day. One little girl, Timuquana Williams, stood out from the rest. When the boat arrived, Timuquana could no longer hide her fear of the water. She pulled away, standing firmly on dry ground, proclaiming she’ll see everyone when they come back. After some major coaxing from one of the chaperones, Timuquana eventually got on board.
Neil Armingeon, our Riverkeeper, quizzed the kids on sites along the banks, the names of the bridges we passed under, and the types of wildlife found in and around the river. He spoke at length about what pollution does to the St. Johns River and proved his point by allowing kids to test the water. The tests and results fascinated the kids, who asked Neil questions about what pollutants do to fish and how they can help.
I sat down for a few moments with Jimmy Orth, the executive director of St. Johns Riverkeeper, who said he wishes they could afford to do more trips like these.
“This is the only one that I guess you could say is a regular trip we do on an annual basis because CSX provides the funding for us,” he said. “We do some others occasionally… [but] we don’t have the resources to do regular, scheduled events except for this one every year. So, if someone approached us and said ‘hey, we’d really like to take some kids out’ and they have some funding too… then we can do it because we have to rent the boats and that sort of thing…What I’m hoping is eventually one day we maybe have either a part-time outreach coordinator/education coordinator or full-time so we can do this kind of thing on a regular basis.”
Beyond giving these kids an increased interest in science and environmental stewardship, the trip also did wonders for Timuquana Williams. As the boat pulled away from the dock, the little girl was near tears. By the end of the trip, she was completely comfortable on the water, walking around on the boat, smiling brightly and saying she would like to go for another ride one day.
“I’m not scared no more,” she said.
Dispelling fears and teaching kids how they can do their part, the Riverkeeper is doing their part to ensure a better future for our river and our city.
How can you get your kids interested in helping keep the river clean?
“The real way to get people, kids, connected to the river and to become concerned stewards of the river is to get them out to experience it,” Jimmy Orth explained during our trip. “It’s hard to do it from a classroom.”
Here are a few activities you can do with your family to enjoy the St. Johns River:
The Annabelle Lee and the Lady St. Johns are terrific party boats that will provide entertainment, meals, a full bar and dancing all while giving you and your guests a tour of the River City. For more information visit jaxrivercruises.com.
Instead of searching for a parking spot Downtown, park on the South Bank and ride the water taxi over. At just $5 for adults and $4 for children and seniors for a roundtrip fare, this is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to experience our river. Head to jaxwatertaxi.com for more information.
Rent a kayak or a canoe from Outdoor Adventures and get up close and personal with our river. Paddling is a great way to explore at your own pace and its something active and exciting that your family can do together. For more information contact Outdoor Adventures at (904) 393-9030
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