Shenandoah's health is focus of event

View larger image People enjoy a day on the river at the low-water bridge in Bentonville on Saturday during the third-annual Shenandoah River Rodeo hosted by the Shenandoah Riverkeeper. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Potomac Riverkeeper Inc. board member Avis Moore, left, of Gaithersburg, Md., with her husband, Bill, talks about how important it is to keep the rivers clean during Saturday's Shenandoah River Rodeo. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image People dance to music played by Uncle Henry's Favorites, of White Hall, during the 3rd Annual Shenandoah River Rodeo hosted by the Shenandoah Riverkeeper on Saturday in Bentonville. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Larry Dijoseph works his way through the food line during the 3rd Annual Shenandoah River Rodeo hosted by the Shenandoah Riverkeeper on Saturday in Bentonville. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image John Hayes, left, talks with Bruce and Elaine Ingram during the 3rd Annual Shenandoah River Rodeo hosted by the Shenandoah Riverkeeper on Saturday at Bentonville. Bruce Ingram is an author of several books about fishing and the rivers of Virginia. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Uncle Henry's Favorites, of White Hall, play music for the people gathered for the 3rd Annual Shenandoah River Rodeo hosted by the Shenandoah Riverkeeper on Saturday in Bentonville. Andrew Thayer/Daily

By Ben Orcutt - borcutt@nvdaily.com

BENTONVILLE-- While the Shenandoah Riverkeeper is all about serious business, Saturday's Shenandoah River Rodeo at the Low-Water Bridge Campground was all about fun.

"We bring members together because there's not a lot of activities that bring us environmentalists together," said Avis Moore, a board member of Potomac Riverkeeper Inc. "Most of the time we're home at our desks or at our computers writing and reading and trying to [get] legislation through Congress and we don't have time for much fun."

Residents of Gaithersburg, Md., Moore, 85, and her husband, Bill, 97, attended Saturday's third-annual Shenandoah Riverkeeper event on the South Fork of the river.

The Shenandoah Riverkeeper works under the auspices of the board of directors of Potomac Riverkeeper Inc. Jeff Kelble of Boyce has served as the Shenandoah Riverkeeper for the past five years.

"We spend our time finding pollution and trying to figure out ways to stop it," Kelble said.

Kelble, 38, said his goal for Saturday's event was to attract about 100 new members to the organization, which already numbers about 400.

"I'd say most of our members are river users, probably the majority of them," Kelble said. "We do work to keep the river useable, keep it clean and healthy for them. A lot of times it means we end up doing a lot of heavy lifting trying to tackle old, hard problems."

In addition to a catered barbecue dinner, the Shenandoah River Rodeo featured paddling, fishing, swimming and entertainment by a bluegrass band. Like Mrs. Moore, Kelble said it's good to have some fun for a group that stays in the trenches trying to fight to keep the Shenandoah River clean.

"Sometimes it's just nice to do fun things," Kelble said. "I spend a lot of my time talking about what's wrong with the river. I've been trying to spend an equal amount of time talking about what's right with the river too."

Although the Shenandoah River has been listed as one of the five most endangered rivers in the United States, Kelble says it's also the most beautiful.

"The Shenandoah River is the most beautiful river in the country and I've been on hundreds of rivers," he said. "It's the river and the mountains, the combination of those two things draws hundreds of thousands of people to this valley. People want to feel good about their river in the valley. They don't want to feel bad about it, and so there's things in the works now that I think are going to make huge differences and really help a few things, so we're trying to make them as good as possible."

Even if you're not a river enthusiast, everyone who lives in the Northern Shenandoah Valley has a stake in the quality of the river, Kelble said.

"If you live in the valley, no matter what, your water is essentially river water," he said. "Either it's ground water that becomes the river or it's river water flowing right into a municipal water treatment facility."

Ed Merrifield, 62, of Rockville Md., is the Potomac Riverkeeper and also attended Saturday's river rodeo. Merrifield said following the 2004 and 2005 fish kills in the Shenandoah River, Kelble was hired to oversee that portion of the Potomac River watershed.

Like his comrades, Merrifield said the quality of the Shenandoah River is vital to all area residents.

"You have to care about your health," Merrifield said. "You have to care about the costs of keeping it clean, at least for your drinking water."

Beau Morgan, 22, of Edinburg, is president of EarthKorps, whose primary task is taking trash out of the Shenandoah River. Morgan works closely with the Shenandoah Riverkeeper and also attended Saturday's event.

"I've grown up on the river," Morgan said. "I love the river. I'm a fisherman and outdoorsman and I'd like to see it be cleaned up."

Steve Shaffer, 35, of Bluemont, attended Saturday's river rodeo with his wife, April, 35, and their two sons, Cayden, 6, and Colby, 3.

"We went rafting on the river," Shaffer said. "We went with Jeff and so it was great learning about the river and all the issues and that kind of stuff. That's one of the reasons we live here in Virginia. We've lived a lot of places, but this is probably one of the most beautiful places that we've been and we want to preserve that."