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First ever Water Festival a success

To the editor:
The first Chisago County Make A Splash Childrenís Water Festival held on Friday, Sept. 26 was a tremendous success! Every fifth grade class in Chisago County attended the event. Over 1,000 students, teachers, chaperones, presenters and volunteers gathered at Camp Ojiketa to learn how water affects our everyday lives and the importance of protecting this precious resource.
The festival committee would like to thank all those that helped make this day so special. Sue Winter, Director of Camp Ojiketa and her staff generously participated from the first planning meeting through the clean up. The camp was a perfect learning environment for the students, and everyone was impressed with the natural setting.
A special word of thanks to the 50 student teachers from Minnesota State University - St. Cloud and their professor, Greg Coverdale, that taught many of the learning stations. Their excitement for the festival was contagious. Despite the intermittent showers, they always had a smile on their faces for the kids.
To the volunteers that gave their time with enthusiasm, no matter what task was assigned ñ we couldnít have done it without you!
April Rust, State Coordinator of the DNR Project WET program, served as our mentor and advisor, and kept things running smoothly from the seven months of preparation through festival day.
The Childrenís Water Festival would not have been possible without generous donations of time and resources from a variety of sources. The Festival Committee recognizes their efforts to provide quality water education for todayís youth through the festival. Their interest in protecting our valuable water resources is evident through this support: Abba Trophy, Inc.; Camp Ojiketa, Campfire USA; Chisago City; Chisago County; Chisago County Historical Society; Chisago County Household Hazardous Waste; Chisago County Schools; Chisago County Water Plan; Chisago Lakes Lions; Chisago Lakes Rotary; Chisago Lakes Sanitation; Chisago Lakes Sanitation; East Central Energy Trust (Operation Round Up); Forest Lake Athletic Association; Gary Alan Nelson, nature photographer; KARE 11; Lindstrom Foods; Minnesota Association of Conservation District Employees; Minnesota Department of Agriculture; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; Minnesota State University - St. Cloud; National Parks Service; Nestle Waters; Pleasant Valley Orchard; Rush Lake Improvement Association; University of Minnesota Extension Service; Vande Kamp Auctioneering; and Zion Lutheran Church.
A tremendous thank you to our festival committee members ñ we truly worked as a team! April Rust, DNR Project WET Jerry Spetzman, MN. Dept. of Agriculture, Sue Winter, Camp Ojiketa, Mike Mueller, DNR Waters, Craig Mell & Sue Humble, Chisago SWCD, Gary Noren, Chisago County Household Hazardous Waste Facility Barb Liukkonen, University of Minnesota Water Resources Center.
Mary Darragh Schmitz, Chisago County Water
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