Published: June 02, 2009 11:15 am      

Piney Creek Festival planned for June 11

The Piney Creek Watershed Association will host its first ever Piney Creek Festival June 11 from 6 to 7:30 p.m at Little Beaver State Park.

Throughout the event, drawings will be held for large prizes such as four-person rafting tickets from ACE, two-person fly-fishing lessons from Pro River Outfitters and two full rounds of sporting clays from Oak Mountain Sporting Clays. The first 100 people to arrive will receive free a hot dog dinner. There will also be games for the kids. Admission is free.

“In the hour and a half, we have a lot going on,” Tara Shlesser, G.I.S. analyst at the Beckley Sanitary Board, said. “It’s fun for all ages.”

The Piney Creek Watershed Association was organized 2005 and is dedicated to the preservation of Piney Creek, which covers approximately 136 square miles. Along with monitoring the water quality, association volunteers take nature hikes along Piney Creek, provide rain barrel workshops and work with storm drain markings.

Shlesser says it is important to preserve Piney Creek because of all the benefits residents reap from it.

“The health of this river impacts the economy and the recreation of this area,” Shlesser said. “We all know how important recreation is to this state and how much we can depend on it.”

By people receiving a better knowledge about the watershed, Shlesser says, she hopes for more people to become members of the association. In this way, she says, people can not only help the creek but help the region as well.

“We want more citizens to become involved in our projects to help the creek,” Shlesser said. “Even if they don’t have time to do nature hikes or any of that other stuff, they can still become a member of the association. In that way, they can still help their surrounding community.”