Special Event
October 18, 2004
What do you get when you bring 1,000 fourth, fifth and sixth graders, 49 presenters, and 75 volunteers to Miami University Hamilton to talk about water? The Butler County Children’s Water Festival.
Sponsored by the Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium, the sixth annual Butler County Water Festival was held on Friday, October 15, 2004 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at Miami University Hamilton. The purpose of the festival was to provide a “hands on” approach to learning about our drinking water. A variety of other environmental issues, including solid waste, air quality, and wildlife management, were addressed during the festival.
“The Festival is a really exciting time not only for the students, but presenters and volunteers as well. The Festival exposes students to the wide variety of issues related to water, including where our drinking water comes from, how it can be contaminated, and what we can do to protect it,” says Tim McLelland, Wellfield Protection Coordinator for the Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium and chairman of the festival planning committee.
Some of this year’s presenters included Channel 19 Fox News Meteorologist Paul Horton, Raptor Inc “Birds of Prey,” the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Cincinnati Zoo, and many other local water utilities and agencies. The Festival is financially sponsored by members of the Ground Water Consortium which includes: City of Hamilton, City of Fairfield, City of Cincinnati, Southwest Regional Water District, and Southwestern Ohio Water Company. The Consortium is especially thankful to the President of Miami University Hamilton Campus and its staff for the use of the Campus for the entire day.
Members of the planning committee, which include, Tim McLelland, Lynn White, Dave Brownfield, Jay Cavender, Peg Collins, Dave Crouch, Darla Crum, Gary Dursch, Shannon Gillespie, Mary Graf, Sherry Fry, Mary Kelsey, Mark Koch, Bruce Whitteberry and Jane Wittke, worked for nearly a year in planning and preparation for this very successful event.
