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Coutts/Siskin helps local students connect with the Clyde River

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Clyde River After School adventurers gather prior to a Green Up Day paddle on a Newport section of the Clyde. Paddles were 100% student made and wood donated for the paddles by Dean and Christie Aldrich was cut and milled from within the Clyde River watershed.
Clyde River After School adventurers gather prior to a Green Up Day paddle on a Newport section of the Clyde. Paddles were 100% student made and wood donated for the paddles by Dean and Christie Aldrich was cut and milled from within the Clyde River watershed.

STUDENTS PICTURED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Frankie Thompson, Justin Bouchard, Arne Bannach, Charlie Thompson, Ian Applegate, Cooper Brueck, Corbin Brueck, Sabine Brueck, Noah Fortin. Not pictured Marianna Barrett.

DERBY — The Clyde River has a long tradition of kids spending time outdoors along its reach; paddling its swiftwater sections, fishing for brookies in deep pools, jigging for smelt on winter ice, hunting for partridge along its wooded margins, or simply skipping rocks after swimming on a hot summer day.

There is no question that these days kids are spending less time on rivers and more and more time indoors in front of screens.

Thanks to support provided by a Small & Inspiring grant from the Vermont Community Foundation, Coutts-Moriarty Camp/Siskin Ecological Adventures were able to achieve a goal that was both simple and lofty — to rekindle these Clyde River connections and thus create the next generation of our community’s river stewards.

Specifically, a pack of local students gathered after school for 2.5 hours each week for 18 weeks to swim, fish, paddle, snowshoe, clean up, investigate, conduct historical research, meet locals with strong Clyde connections, monitor water quality, generate discussions of sustainability beside a local hydroelectric dam, and give back to this amazing ecological and economic resource that links our local communities.

Coutts-Moriarty Camp/Siskin Ecological Adventures is located on the shores of Lake Salem in Derby. Each year over 500 summer campers and 10,000 students take part in camps and educational programs. Additional information concerning camps and program offerings can be found at www.siskincoutts.org.

You can also stay in touch by “liking” their Facebook Page Here.

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