2017 NOW Festival


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.