(boats thumping)

>>We're the canoe guys.

>>We've taken, let's see, six
trips down the river today.

>>We had a group from
Chesterfield that came up

and I guess they were part
of their school activity

was to release trout
into the river.

So they had never
been to Waynesboro

at least the two
that I took down.

So this was an equal experience

and they had never
been in a canoe either.

So after they dumped the
trout in the river, you know

they went down for
the canoe ride.

>>So it's been a lot of fun.

>>Today we're going to
check out a festival

designed to celebrate the South
River and educate families

about the important
role this waterway plays

in the community.

Join us as we explore
the annual Riverfest

here in Waynesboro, Virginia.

Come on

(soft music)

>>It's just a great
experience being here

'cause I've never
been here before

and it's really cool being
able to release live fish

and I just like it a lot.

>>This is great.

It's a wonderful event,

they've all kinds of
things with the trout

and you can touch and feel
and really experience it

and it's very family
friendly and we love it.

>>Michael and David
Reptile World.

>>Oh my goodness,
thank you so much.

What a wonderful,
wonderful treat

it always is to bring
Reptile World to Riverfest.

>>So Amanda, you are the
President of Riverfest

which takes place every spring.

Talk about everything
that's going on here

at Constitution Park today.

>>Basically we have a ton
of things going on at once.

So there's lots of opportunities

and lots of variety for people.

We have a lot of presentations
going on throughout the day

in our pavilion
under the pavilion.

>>So examples would be?

>>Some of our most
popular examples would be

two Reptile World shows.

So we have a gentlemen bring
a lot of variety of snakes

and turtles to show people
and talk about conservation.

We also have the Wildlife
Center of Virginia.

>>Right?

>>And we also have
a children's play

that focuses on
some native wildlife

that exists along the river.

So they dress up as a
rock bass and a heron

lots of cute stuff like that

and they act out a short play.

We also have a huge tent where
we have lots of exhibitors.

A lot of them have an
environmental theme with them.

Some of them are local
businesses that are

having an environmental twist

but huge variety of
things to see there

and then of course

we have lots of different
food vendors too,

so people can have a snack
and keep up their strength

while they're having fun.

>>It's a great festival,
how is it funded?

>>We have some really fantastic

and generous sponsors
that are all local.

So a lot of these people
are local businesses,

they're Waynesboro people

or Augusta county
people in businesses.

So they help us
run this every year

we certainly couldn't
do it without them.

>>Now, if other people wanna
get involved, what do they do?

>>I would suggest that
they either give us a call

or send us an email and
they can go to our website

which is riverfestwaynesboro.org

and if someone's
really interested in
the work that we do

we can always bring them on
a committee or on the board.

This is a totally
volunteer run organization

so we can, we need all
the help we can get.

>>Now, black vultures
and bald eagles

both suffer from an
environmental hazards

which is lead poisoning

and when black
culture or bald Eagle

ingest something that's
been contaminated with lead

they can become very
sick and potentially die.

>>I came up from Virginia
Beach today to see Buddy.

I've followed his progress
since before his egg was laid.

I mean, eagles are
just beautiful birds,

they need our help.

>>It's very fun
to be at Riverfest

and to present these programs.

I especially like
working with children

and there are lots of
families here today.

So I get to see the children
react to all the animals

that I bring out and
I see them learning

and it just makes
me feel really good,

it makes me feel very happy.

I have two superstar birds today

they're both scavenging birds.

I have Buttercup is
our black vulture

and he's only recently been
part of our education program.

So people are really
excited to see him

and then of course we
have Buddy our bald eagle.

So he has a huge fan base

and we're just really
excited to have him here.

>>So bald eagles can
have the wing span

of about six and a centi...

(children applauding)

Do you guys feel his wings?

(bell ringing)

>>Well, Riverfest is all
about trying to educate

our local community here
Waynesboro about the aesthetic

and the recreational and
the educational value

of South River and it's
a beautiful resource.

It's a wonderful resource
for the community

and what we try and do each year

is to develop a greater depth
and appreciation for the river

and what it brings
to the community.

>>When and why did the
festival gets started?

It's been going for a while.

>>Well, 16 years ago,

two individuals that
lived here in town

decided that it would
be a really great thing

to have a festival
celebrating South River

and its assets, its values

and there was a lot of
talk at the time also

about the problems that the
river created for the community.

The flooding issues
that we can have

from South River
from time to time

and there was a lot of talk
about what could be done

as far as channelizing
the river was concerned.

So it really was appeared
to be a liability

for the community

and their idea was to try and
make the community understand

that it was really
truly an asset

to the community and to try
and turn that attitude around

and we feel like we've been
quite successful at that.

>>Talk about the river, talk
about it being an asset.

>>Well, first of all, the
water quality has improved

through the years tremendously

and in fact, we have
trout here in the river

and it's a great fishing stream

and it's a wonderful
canoeing and resource.

A lot of people boat and fish
the river and canoe the river

and on days like today
where we've got, you know

hundreds of kids here doing,
collecting insects in the river

and working with biologists
that we have come to Riverfest

they're using it as
an educational tool.

So it really serves
many purposes

and it's the greenway
that we're on right here

has been tremendously successful

and it's really accented

and made the community
appreciate the river even more.

We see tremendous amount
of use of the greenway

and so I think
that the community

is really beginning to realize

that there's a
great resource here

and it's something we should
treasure, we should protect

and we shouldn't
really care about.

>>Yeah, and celebrate.

So today there are at least
four activities going on

at the river lets
talk about that.

>>Right, right.

We've got canoe rides
on the river for folks

we have canoeists
that are taking people

for about a one mile
trip down the river

and that's a very
popular activity.

We have what we call
the stream safari

down below us here on the river

where we've got kids
collecting insects and crayfish

and all kinds of stream life

and they're identifying
these critters

and teaching the kids
about stream ecology.

We've had the Department of Game

and Inland Fisheries here today.

They brought their
electrofishing gear

which is equipment that
puts an electric current

in the water

and it temporarily stuns
the fish, we collect those

and then the game
biologist take those up

and they identify the fish

and they talk about
their life histories

and the various species of fish.

We have, I think 23, we've
found 23 species of fish

different species of
fish here in South River.

So it's a very very
productive river,

our water quality, as I said
earlier, is quite good here

so it supports a very
healthy community of fish

and insect life.

>>Rainbow.

>>The South is
getting a lot of press

for it's trout fishing,

but it's also an
exceptional river to paddle

and the section we did
today was about two miles

through the most industrial
part of the river.

What I hope it does is
it brings attention that

we need to put a little more
effort into this section.

Maybe get some clean ups going

and do some things
along this line

'cause it's the section
that's going to parallel

the next segment of the
beautiful greenway trail

that they're putting here in
Waynesboro along the river.

>>Is perfect recreation.

It's easy, it's getting
outdoors, you know,

it's also like Dave
mentioned earlier

we're highlighting
to you some of the,

not so glamorous aspects,

you know, there's
trash and so forth

and, you know especially
getting young children,

seeing that, you know

it kind of probably instills
a little responsibility

and, hey, you know, we
need to keep this clean,

so that everybody else
can enjoy it you know

for many years to come.

>>So we had got a
sample of the water

and so I'm gonna add 10
drops of the indicator

basically after shaking
it up a few times

it should give us
a valid indication.

So basically we hold
it up to the sun

and try to see the range

and to me it looks more like
a in the middle of seven

and at some 0.5 and
it shows how healthy

the water quality is
fit for the child.

So they're able to be
dumped in and released

and instead they have
their own families

and reproduce and
live their lives.

>>When we got the fish,
they were actually eggs.

We began the project

because the trout
population was really low.

So my teacher
volunteered to take care

of some trout so that
we could release them

so that the population
would increase.

>>Talk about the importance

of the educational piece.

>>One of the things
that we try and do here

is get kids back out
into the environment

and get them on the streams,
get them exploring the outdoors

and the natural world.

There was a book written not
too long ago by a gentleman

and he talked about

a phenomenon called
"Nature Deficit Disorder"

and it really is truly
a serious problem

in recent generations

of children just not doing
enough outdoor activities

not really exploring the
outdoors as much as I did

when I was young and was a child

and so what we're trying to do
is to get kids back outdoors

get them excited
about the environment,

get them excited about
rivers and streams

and the life that lives
in these things and learn.

So that really is one of
our really big efforts here

is the educational component.

>>And today you have kids
from how many schools

that are participating in
a trout release program,

what is that?

>>Well, there's an organization

in Virginia called
Trout Unlimited

and they're dedicated
to preservation of
cold water streams,

cold water fisheries that
trap fisheries in Virginia

and they have a program
that they sponsor

in the school systems
all over Virginia

where we get trout eggs
we put them in an aquarium

in the science classes,
in middle schools

and the kids watch
these eggs develop

and hatch and turn into
little tiny trout fry

and then they
raise these fish up

to three or four
inches in length

and then once they're
large enough in the spring

they take their fish out

and they can put
them in streams.

We also have the great
South River duck race

of course, at the end
of the event today

where we all dump about 1000
rubber ducks off the bridge

and I'll be wrangling ducks
this afternoon about 4:30.

So that's another
highlight of the day

and it's kind of the end
of the day's activity.

So it's a lot of fun.

>>This is actually new to me

so I'm quite thrilled
by it ,you know,

I'm really thrilled and
I like being around here.

Lots of pretty faces,
lots of beautiful smiles

it's just so awesome
to be around.

It's so lively, I love it.

(smooth jazz music)