February 26, 2012:   Six current River Watchers, Four River Watch Graduates and about 50 other family members, friends and community members came out to the EcoHouse for the Open House.  Three hours of Archery, Kite Flying, BBQ, pie, and Interpretive Nature Hiking later all had met good people and had a good time.  Our Executive Director enjoyed visiting with one River Watch Graduate in particular.  Brent asked him, “What did you get out of participating in Austin Youth River Watch?”  And he replied, ” I learned to love the environment.”  Program Director, Elisabeth Welsh, relished seeing three graduates she had not seen in more than five years and taking a couple of their kids on the nature hike.  It was clear that these children loved being out in nature too, just like their Dad had loved it when he was in River Watch.  One current River Watcher fell in love with Archery.  It was beautiful to see the multi-gernerational, multi-lingual kite flying and other interactions.  We sincerely appreciate everyone who participated in making this a special event. Thank you.

February 25, 2012:   26 Volunteers cleared growth from along the fence in the back yard, cleaned the inside of the house, did some landscape work and generally got the house ready for the Open House the next day.  In the morning many volunteers came out from the Hornsby Bend EcoLiteracy Day.  Others came as part of a school project from LBJ high school and other local schools.  Others were already part of the River Watch community – current and former students and their family members. Everyone did such a great job.  And we really appreciate all the help.

February 17 – 18, 2012:   14 Young Men of Austin Youth River Watch from six different school got together and made new friends in the River Watch community.  On a rainy night River Watchers played  Apples to Apples, Pit, Spoons, Uno mod (new), Dominoes, and other fun games that broke the ice and help them get to know each other.  In the morning some played basketball while others hiked down to the river by the Big Tree and used the leaves of grass to make musical instruments and duck / other bird calls.  We also played with bedstraw – sharing cleavers with our neighbors is so cute.  Everyone came back wearing some.

February 9, 2012:   Seven River Watchers hiked toward the river and walked through the forest calling for owls and coyotes.  The students heard barred owls responding just thirty feet or so from where we walked – Hooo Hooo Hoo Hooooo!

February 7,  2012:   Seven River Watchers played flashlight tag in the forest.  It was so fun to see the exuberant childlike joy flashlight tag brought out in the students.

February 1, 2012  Seventeen AYRW students attend Financial Education Workshop at the Wells Fargo Bank on Congress Ave. The workshop was led by Wells Fargo associates: Patty Lopez, Sherry Cooper, Francis Agulto, and Lalo Estrada.

January 30, 2012  Ten AYRW students attend presentation by Oscar Garza detailing the work of the East Austin Environmental Initiative  and later, a discussion on Aquatic Entomology and water quality by Todd Jackson.

January 26, 2012  Volunteer Matt started working with the Travis High School group. Fourteen AYRW students went birdwatching and learned about the composting process at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant near the AYRW EcoHouse.