The 4th annual Northern Olentangy Watershed (NOW) Festival was held Sat., June 10. Delaware’s Mingo Park on the scenic Olentangy River was once again the venue. The 93-mile Olentangy is the primary source of drinking water for the City of Delaware, so the location is a perfect place to raise water-quality awareness and to celebrate water stewardship. For the first (and, unfortunately, last) time, Watershed & Sustainability Coordinator Collin Smith was the organizer after Kristin Piper accepted a similar position with Evans Farm. Hundreds of people stopped by at the informational booths of both for-profits and non-profits and enjoyed the activities, which included a rubber-duck race on the Olentangy. Eight painted rain barrels were raffled off. This year’s watershed-stewardship awards went to Paul Olen, a Dempsey Middle School teacher; the ECO Center in Marion County’s Caledonia; and Delaware County Preservation Parks.
Text written by Tom Wolber, reprinted from Community Matters, July 2017.