In addition to serving a term as Commodore of OMP, I am working my way up the ranks in a community-based organization through Missouri Department of Conservation called the Master Naturalists. It’s an initiative through the University of Missouri Extension Service to bring together motivated citizens to share their nature-based knowledge and experiences, learn lots more from the specialists in the field, and take that enhanced knowledge to the general public. There are chapters all over the state and more forming each year. So as not to reinvent the wheel, our chapter has been working with some of the other, better established, not-for-profits in the area; one of which is the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks (WCO). Their website can be accessed through this link: http://www.watershedcommittee.org/. I have had the honor of personally working with the folks at WCO on developing their educational curriculum as well as supporting some of their on-site programming at their Valley Water Mill location off of north Glenstone. This organization is providing wonderful educational opportunities for our youth, water quality testing in the Springfield area watershed, and is a growing voice in the environmental impact decisions being made on our behalf as citizens. This group needs our support. Like most not-for-profits, they go from fiscal year to fiscal year, hoping to have enough funding to carry out their programming obligations and keep the small staff on the payroll through the slower months. After nine years of ongoing service to the community, they are trying to raise the funds to build a facility at Valley Water Mill. The Watershed Center design would be a LEED certified structure and a focal point for environmental education in the area. The adjoining property, Valley Water Mill, is currently being developed and utilized as an interpretive center for the local school systems by integrating the state and federal school curriculum standards with a real-world message about protecting our ground water.

Therefore, I am asking the membership of Ozark Mountain Paddlers to take an active role in ensuring the continued success of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks by donating one thousand dollars (about a sixth of our current monetary assets) toward the construction of the Watershed Center. I believe this endeavor will benefit the community, the club (as a contributing member of this community) and the environment that we are all working to conserve. I will present this proposal for a vote at our November 10th meeting.

See you at the put-in,

Mike Simpson

From the Commodore’s Boat