Celebrate the Watershed Partners' 30th anniversary with a paddleboat tour on the Mississippi River! Connect with folks and learn about the history and future of the Mississippi while enjoying the view from the water.
Watershed Partners is a coalition of more than seventy public, private and non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities metro area. Through collaborative engagement and outreach, the partners work to promote a public understanding that inspires people to act to protect water in their watershed. Watershed Partners holds monthly meetings, hosts the www.cleanwatermn.org website, operates Minnesota’s Adopt-a-Drain program, and has a large exhibit space in the Eco Experience at the Minnesota State Fair each year.
Washington Conservation District and the East Metro Water Resource Education Program (EMWREP) have been active leaders in Watershed Partners since 2006.
Meet at Watergate Marina at 8:30 am for a 9:00 am departure on the Magnolia Blossom. Parking is available on-site. Rain or shine! Bathrooms and indoor/outdoor seating are available on boat. Complimentary coffee and snacks will be provided.
Speaker Info:
Stephen Walker, Education Specialist at Mississippi Park Connection
Stephen shares his love of the Mississippi River with school and youth groups through outdoor field trips on or near the river. Stephen was born in Minnesota, and spent much of his youth exploring the Northwoods of the state, where the Mississippi River has its headwaters. Says Stephen: “I swam across the Mississippi countless times as a kid, I’ve camped on islands in the middle of the river, and I’ve walked across it frozen in the winter– it has generally weaved its way through most of my life. In 2022, I saw all 2,340 miles of the River, when I took a canoe and paddled from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. That took me 97 days!” Stephen has also worked at Crater Lake National Park, in Oregon. Stephen is so excited to share his enthusiasm for the Mississippi River, and its history, geology, and ecology with curious minds.
John O. Anfinson, PhD, River Historian at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory
Dr. John O. Anfinson has been researching, writing and speaking about the Mississippi River for over 40 years. He spent the first half of his 40-year federal career with the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as District Historian, Tribal Coordinator and Cultural Resources Program Manager. He joined the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, in 2000, from which he retired as Superintendent in 2021. John is the author of The River We Have Wrought and River of History and many articles about the Mississippi River. He has presented at regional, national, and international meetings. He is a founding board member of Friends of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. John is currently the Vice-Chair of Minnesota’s Mississippi River Parkway Commission (Great River Road) and Pilot (Chair) of the 10-state Commission. From 2022 to 2025, he worked as a part-time guest speaker on American Cruise Lines boats operating between St. Paul and New Orleans, giving presentations covering the whole river. John is currently on two Mississippi River study teams with the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory as their River Historian. He holds a Ph.D. in U.S. History from the University of Minnesota.
We will also hear a brief recap from the first half of the year about the Sacred Water Shared Future campaign.