The 18th annual flotilla of Iowa Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition) will arrive in Perry Wednesday via the North Raccoon River after volunteers in canoes spend the day cleaning trash out of the river.
The Iowa Project AWARE staff and vehicles are expected to arrive at the Perry river access off of I Court in the mid to late morning Wednesday and be gone by 3:30 p.m. Each day’s yield of trash is unloaded from the canoes and sorted into recyclables and disposables.
Wednesday night’s campout at Hanging Rock in Redfield will feature the music of Dakota flautist Bryan Akipa, winner of several Native American Music Awards. The Grammy-nominated artist was also a featured presenter at the Dallas County Conservation Board’s annual Prairie Awakening Celebrations.
Akipa will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Hanging Rock in Redfield. The public is invited to attend this free evening concert, sponsored by the Dallas County Conservation Board.
Iowa Project AWARE moves each year to a different river in Iowa. This year’s flotilla started Sunday, July 11 at the Whiterock Conservancy River Campground in Coon Rapids. Monday took the paddlers 8.2 miles from the Henderson Park Access in Jefferson to the Squirrel Hollow Access in Jefferson, and Tuesday brought them from Squirrel Hollow to the Dawson Access, with overnight camping at Springbrook State Park near Guthrie Center.
Thursday will take the canoe cleaners from the Redfield Access to the Earlham Bridge Access, with camping at the Van Meter American Legion Post, and Friday will progress from Earlham to the Van Meter Access.
