Another wonderful Friday at The Pirates House! President Ben Brewer reminded all members to be sure to sign up for the Rotary Night Out at Savannah Bananas on July 19th and for the Back to School Breakfast at Haven Elementary on July 27th. More information on these two events are in the bulletin. Then, a visitor from the Kiwanis Club on Skidaway Island invited all members and their friends to "A Nashville Night for Savannah Early Childhood Foundation" which is a joint event between the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs on Skidaway. The event will be held at the Plantation Club Ballroom on Wednesday, July 18 from 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm. All net proceeds from this event benefit SECF. Once all announcements were made, Pastor Herb Hubbard introduced our speaker - Luke Roberson with Ogeechee Riverkeeper.
Ogeechee Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and protect the Ogeechee River watershed which covers 5,500 square miles. They have 3 full time staff and rely heavily on volunteers to help check the water quality (pollutants and bacteria) of the watershed. Thankfully, due to its size and lack of farming around it, the Ogeechee River is one of the cleanest rivers in the southeast.
Ogeechee Riverkeeper focuses a lot on education. They work with Georgia Southern and UGA to do research on the area, host public forums, have paddle trips throughout the watershed and work with the city to educate kids about water supply. Luke said if you would like to get involved, you can help with clean up, participate in a paddle trip (the next one is on July 28th with a Biology professor from Georgia Southern), and/or become a member or sponsor. Ogeechee Riverkeeper is the current Rotary Annual Service Partner with Metro Club. For more information about this organization, please visit ogeecheeriverkeeper.org