Development Director Bonnie Gannon reports that income gained from GSWA’s recent participation in an Internet-based "virtual silent auction" brought GSWA $3,433. The auction allowed visitors to the iDon8 World Wide Web site to view and bid on a variety of items donated to the Watershed Association by GSWA members, local residents and businesses.

Karen Patterson, Outreach and Education Director, is serving as a statewide coordinator for "Pass the Paddle," a seven-month national effort to raise awareness of our rivers. State and national officials, along with private citizens, are "passing the paddle" through all 50 states, using rivers that form state boundaries, or flow from state to state. The paddle will travel from NY to NJ via the Hudson River on Sept. 26, and then from NJ to DE via the Delaware River on Sept. 30.   To follow the progress of the paddle, go to www.rivers2000.org.   To get involved, contact Patterson at 973.966.1900 or kpatters@greatswamp.org.

Membership Director Gina Snell describes her 6-year experience as a GSWA volunteer in the summer issue of River Voices, magazine of the River Network. The River Network is a national nonprofit organization that supports river and watershed advocates on local and national levels. For the most recent issue on volunteers, Snell was asked to provide insight from a long-term volunteer's perspective.