Save the Illinois River's 2024 Annual Members Meeting was a great success. Awards were presented to our scenic rivers supporters and members enjoyed a wonderful reception and BBQ dinner at beautiful Sequoyah Club.
Ron Suttles, retired Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and cofounder of the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma was inducted into the STIR Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Hall of Fame. Ron joins notable Oklahomans including former Oklahoma Congressman Ed Edmondson, scenic rivers defender David Strickland, and the late Oklahoma State Representative Jim Townsend in the STIR Hall of Fame.
Ron Suttles
The honor of the Francie Fite Water Warrior Award was presented to Jeri Fleming of the Grand River Dam Authority. Fleming is a former employee of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and was instrumental in the commission's Blue Thumb volunteer water testing program. She currently is working with STIR, the Tahlequah Parks and Recreation Department, and the Mission Park Foundation to build a community rain garden at Mission Park in Tahlequah.
Jeri Fleming, center; Max McCullough, left, STIR; Ed Fite, STIR, right
Lee Guthrie of the Tahlequah Daily Press was awarded the STIR Excellence in Environmental Reporting Award for her coverage of water quality issues including wetlands protection and phosphorus control regulations. Guthrie covers the Tahlequah Public Works Authority which operates Tahlequah's wastewater treatment plant, the largest sewage treatment facility in the Oklahoma portion of the Illinois River watershed.
Lee Guthrie, right; Denise Deason-Toyne, left; and Ed Brocksmith, center
STIR Board of Directors member Nancy Garber of Tahlequah was recognized for her service. Garber was active in STIR when she was a student at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. She is a former newspaper reporter and publicist. Garber joined STIR's board in 2012.
Nancy Garber, left; Ed Brocksmith, center; Denise Deason-Toyne, right
The event was a lot of fun also, especially when D.E. Smoot picked up a guitar and played the new STIR Anthem by Anon (copyright STIR):
Those Tyson Trucks are comin’, they’re comin’ round the bend
And folks ain’t had clean water, since I don’t know when.
We’re stuck in phosphorous limbo, just waiting for the courts
The Tyson company lawyers keep filing documents like it’s a sport
When I was young that water, was clear as it could be
Why you could see the river bottom standing from 6 foot 3
But we’re in phosphorous limbo, just waiting for the courts
While poultry executives profit, and play at fine resorts
The water ain’t getting cleaner, and that’s not just MY take
You look on to the South and phosphorous is in the Lake
The executives know it’s happening but they don’t care one bit,
They keep making lots of money, and leaving us the Chicken Poop! (you know what I mean)
So all people who love clean water, here’s what we must decide
Let’s boycott all the chicken products and do now it worldwide
When those executives start losing money and take a financial hit
They just might stop polluting and clean up all their S---Poop!
