Alexander Feldman and Siena Podgorny examine a crawfish found at the Paonia River Park for part of their research.

The Western Hardrock Watershed Team (WHWT) provides important capacity-building support to rural mining communities. Made possible by an innovative partnership among the Office of Surface Mining, AmeriCorps VISTA, Trees Water and People, state mining offices and local community/watershed groups, the WHWT places year-long, college-trained OSM/VISTA volunteer watershed development coordinators with local groups working in communities impoverished by pre-regulatory mining activity in their home place/watersheds.Each placement is for a minimum of three years, requiring a commitment to capacity building and long-term improvement at each WHWT site.

The River Theater Pilot Group will present performances of “River Journey” at the Paonia Library on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 2 p.m. and multiple times at the Paonia River Park on Saturday, Aug. 22 from 3-5 p.m. Admission is free, but donations will benefit the Paonia River Park.

Volunteers from NFRIA came and talked with the kids about the river and its life forms. Over many group discussions they narrowed down the collection of creatures to 12 main characters.

"We then used improvisation as a tool to compose the scenes for the play. The kids would role-play the creatures they researched. This helped create a natural flow with the script dialog. It was also a wonderful thing to see the kids take on the perspective of one of the river fauna," Howden explained.

One of their parting activities each day from the Paonia River Park was to each take something that "didn't belong there." Cans, cigarette butts, and trash were found and the theory of "leave no trace" was discussed. The kids decided to add a "trash" character to the script. It was decided that the character would be all the abandoned trash of the girl's past who comes back to speak with her about the gum wrapper she tosses on the ground while walking through the River Park. The kids decided the plot would be based on the girl's disillusionment with the seemingly "lifeless" park. She would be taken on a journey by the river character and come upon creatures that live there that would transform her careless attitude. "Things got complicated as we began discussions on how we would stage the performance down at the Paonia River Park," Howden shared. An 11-year-old girl in the group named Jaime Hollomon suggested we have the audience "walk down the trail with the girl" at the park, and have the river characters "pop out" of their natural habitat along the way. The group was thrilled with her solution to their staging dilemma.

Aug. 11 marked the first day of the two week River Theatre Camp. Twelve lucky kids are now spending their days between the Paonia Library and the Paonia River Park rehearsing Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The kids are looking forward to many people coming to see their performances. A digital film and photo story of the project will be made documenting process and performance of the River Theatre Project and a copy given to the local library. "We hope to bring performances into local schools to help spread the positive message about protecting the Paonia River Park," Howden said. Dramatic arts can be very powerful for sending important messages in a fun and encouraging way. Not only the kids will be touched by this project, but the parents, the community, the schools, and of course, the North Fork River itself! An indoor performance of "River Journey" will be hosted at the Paonia Public Library on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m.

Multiple half hour tour performances of "River Journey" will take place at the Paonia River Park on Saturday, Aug. 22, between 3-5 p.m. There is no admission charge, but donations and sales from coloring books and refreshments at the outdoor event will go straight to the Paonia River Park. Audience members are encouraged to wear good walking shoes and be prepared for hot sun during the outside tour performances.

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