Past president and current OSFR board member Kristin Rubin has sent the following:
Dearest Readers and Members of Our Santa Fe River,
When I joined OSFR and became a board member I was asked to be at the OSFR
booth at the Downtown Gainesville Arts Festival. That was over five years ago.
I had no clue what OSFR was about except for the obvious fact: it had to do with
protecting the Santa Fe River. Anyone could see that, right?
Well it is so much more! The Santa Fe River Basin is a watershed that spans nine
counties and is centered around the Santa Fe, the Ichetucknee, and New Rivers
as well as Olustee Creek. It is also an important recharge area for the Floridan
Aquifer and a tributary of the Suwannee River which flows directly into the Gulf of
Mexico.
What do we strive to protect the watershed and Floridan Aquifer from?
Water bottling companies using our springs for single use plastic bottles
Phosphate mining from using and poisoning the water and ruining wetlands
Fracking which uses and poisons our water
Toll roads that use excessive water and create sprawl throughout the watershed and wetlands
Unrestrained building that decreases our wetlands
Overuse of agricultural & residential pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.
And how do we help?
By starting a conversation and LISTENING. So please join us in this
conversation. We spoke to almost 600 people at the Downtown Gainesville
Arts Festival where we received over 500 signed petitions for the Right To
Clean Water amendment to be put on the 2024 ballot. Did you know
amendments work? Read the Green Amendment book by Maya van
Rossum to see how.
OSFR works with so many organizations that protect all of this area and beyond
and in doing so we work to educate on how to protect the water and land that is
this basin, this watershed.
Please join OSFR in our 2023 outreach events and sign up for any and all of the
following events:
Olustee Festival – February 18 and 19 (Friday and Saturday) in Lake City
***2 shifts each day ***10-2:00 pm & 2:00 pm-6 pm
Setup on Friday is at 8 am and Breakdown is Saturday at 6 pm
Silver SpringsFest – March 4 and 5 (Saturday and Sunday in Ocala
***2 shifts each day ***10 am-1:00 pm & 1:00-4 pm (Four shifts total
Setup on Saturday is at 9 am and Breakdown is Sunday at 4:00 pm
2023 Springs Celebration Chili Cookoff – April 8 (Saturday) O’Leno State Park.
***11 am-3 pm*** Setup 10:30 am & Breakdown 3pm”
Florida Folk Festival – May 26 – 28 (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) White Springs, FL
***2 shifts each day***10 am-1:30 pm & 1:30-5 pm (Six shifts total)
Setup-Day 1 9:15 am & Breakdown-day 3 5:30 pm
Please contact me to sign up for any and all events. Information of addresses and
booth locations will be emailed out once the information has been shared by the
event coordinator.
Kristin.rubin@oursantaferiver.org or (305)582-3800
Thank you so much for all you do for our waters and environment, we can make a
difference only together.
Best,
Kristin Rubin
Our Santa Fe River
