Please join us for the Catfish Fry fundraiser at Abe & Jakes Landing at 8 E. 6th St. in Lawrence, KS starting at 6pm on Thursday evening, September 25. You will receive a delicious catfish dinner prepared by Terrabonne Cafe. The cost is $10 in advance and tickets can be purchased  HERE, or pay $12 at the door.  As well as a yummy dinner, you will enjoy a blue grass band, a great exhibit on the Kansas Riverkings, a cash bar, and lots of fun and conversation about the Kaw!

You will also have the opportunity to bid on some fabulous items from Lawrence merchants in our silent auction.

We would like to thank our sponsors:
Abe & Jakes
Westar’s Green Team
Cromwell Solar
Thompson Financial Group
Cottin’s Hardware & Rental
Landmark National Bank
LawrenceHits.com
KLWN
Downtown Lawrence

Fall Floats on the Kaw!

This Saturday, September 20,  Friends of the Kaw will host the Kanza and Thomas Hart Benton Sierra Clubs on a Kaw River float from Seward Ave. access in Topeka to the Rising Sun access just north west of the Lecompton Bridge.  This is a particularly scenic 13 mile float and we still have a few boats available for the public to rent.   If you have your own canoe or kayak you are welcome to join the float.  We will meet the group at the Rising Sun access at 8am to organize the shuttle and caravan to the Seward Ave. access in east Topeka. After a safety and basic paddling talk we will launch about 9:30am.  We will paddle as a group for about an hour and a half and then stop on a sand bar for a hotdog and marshmallow roast.  Participants will have time to explore the sand bar and also listen to a short Sandbar Seminar about the Kaw.  We will paddle for another hour and half and take out at Rising Sun about 2pm.  Drivers will be taken back to their cars at Seward Avenue and then return for their boats and passengers.

In case of eminent thunderstorms or high wind we will cancel the float at 6am on the day of the float. Call or email the Kansas Riverkeeper for more info or questions!

Community Forum on Kansas Environmental Issues

Thursday, October 2, 2014
Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208
Hosted by Environmental Action Committee of Village Presbyterian Church

Environmental Policy and Politics in Kansas: Which One Needs More Help?
A Conversation with Joshua and Kimberly Svaty

5:30 p.m.                  Appetizers & Exhibits by Kansas Environmental Organizations
6:00 p.m.                  Dinner of Locally Grown Foods Catered by Blue Bird Bistro
7:00 p.m.                  Program: Zack Pistora, Vice-President, KNRC; Josh Svaty, Vice-President of The Kansas Land Institute, former Kansas State Representative & Secretary of Agriculture; Kimberly Svaty, Owner of Gencur Svaty Public Affairs; Moderator Burke Griggs, Assistant Attorney for Kansas, Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford
8:30 p.m.                  Adjourn

Advance reservations advised by Friday, September 26. $20 donation covers dinner and program. $10 covers program only ($5 for students). Payable on-line @ www.knrc.ws or by check mailed to KNRC/Community Forum, 7301 Mission Road, Suite 248, Prairie Village, KS, 66208. Receipt of on-line payment or check confirms your reservation.

August has been beautiful, bring on the September floats!!

The Friends of the Kaw Dad/Sons float trip on August 9th was enjoyed by all. As shown in the photo above, during the break from floating the boys enjoyed nice swim! Many fish and bald eagles were spotted on the trip and instead of hot dogs, the treat of choice for the August float was watermelon! The sand bar and nice cloudy day were enjoyed by everyone.

In September we have floats planned on Saturday 6, 13 and 20. Anyone with their own canoe or kayak are welcome to join any of our floats – just be sure to call and let us know you’re coming so if we have any last minute changes we can get in touch. Also, for any of our floats we rent out the available canoes or kayaks not used by the group. September is a beautiful month to be on the Kaw, so come join us!

Catfish Fry!

Friends of the Kaw welcomes you to join us for one of our most popular events of the year – the Catfish Fry at Abe & Jake’s Landing in Lawrence, KS. Tickets may be purchased online for $10 in advance or for $12 at the door. Enjoy a catfish dinner, a live band, a great exhibit on the Kansas Riverkings, and lots of fun and conversation about the Kaw. You do not want to miss this event!

Rain Garden Maintenance and Cleanups

Friends of the Kaw will be maintaining the rain garden near the DeSoto ramp on September 6th before the float at 9am. There will be many more opportunities to volunteer with other Kansas River maintenance and river cleanups and we encourage you volunteer a few hours helping us take care of our amazing river, which is a National River Trail and a 172 mile Kansas gem of sandbars and wildlife. Thank you!

Friends of the Kaw has hosted the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Church, a KU Architecture class, the Konza Rotary Club in Manhattan, Boy Scout Troop 323 and the Kansas Wesleyan University Girls Volleyball Team (pictured above) on group float trips this summer. Our float trips are lots of fun, good exercise, and educational. In addition, we host a hot dog and marshmallow roast over a drift wood fire on a sand bar. Kaw river sand bars are fun to explore, and hot dogs sure taste good when they are cooked over an open fire!

We would like to thank the participating groups and our float assistants for making these floats safe and fun!

KU Architecture Class

Cooking Marshmallows

In September we have floats planned for Saturday the 6th, 13th and 20th. Anyone with their own canoe or kayak is welcome to join any of our floats, just be sure to call and let us know you are coming so if we have any last minute changes we can get in touch. We also rent out the canoes or kayaks not used by the group.

Friends of the Kaw hosts Boys & Girls Club Paddling Experiences!

Friends of the Kaw partnered with Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, managed by the National Park Service, and Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area to engage 170 at-risk 4th – 5th grade students from area Boys and Girls Clubs in a half-day paddling experience as part of a series of 5 five-day camp programs. The paddling experiences took place at Kill Creek Lake and Lake Lenexa on Wednesdays in June and July and consisted of a stormwater game, macro invertabrate study and paddling a canoe or kayak. An experienced adult paddler accompanied each student or group of students. At the end of the event everyone enjoyed a hot dog cook out in one of the lake’s shelters. Our goal was to connect area youth with America’s Great Outdoors encouraging outdoor fitness and this activity was funded by a Paddle Nation Grant awarded to Friends of the Kaw.

Friends of the Kaw would like to thank the staff of Brown v. Board of Education, Freedom’s Frontier and the attending Boys and Girls Clubs for helping to make the five events very successful. Laura Calwell, Erik Wolf and Dee Wilson, staff of Friends of the Kaw, planned and organized the outings but we could not have been successful with out the assistance of our many volunteers who paddled. A big thank you to: Julia Marsh, Mike Calwell, Jeanne Heitzman, Tom Stull, Kate Delahunt, Susan Kysela, Tam Smith, Jim Jackson, and Jim Walton.

Floating the Kaw!

Friends of the Kaw has had a very busy summer, along with the five Boys and Girls Club floats we have hosted the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Church, a KU Architecture class and the Konza Rotary Club in Manhattan. We will host Boy Scout Troop 323 on July 19 and the Kansas Wesleyan University Girls Volleyball Team on July 21.

We have no floats scheduled for August at this time but we’re happy to help any group plan a float even at the last minute.

In September we have floats planned for Saturday 6, 13 and 20. Anyone with their own canoe or kayak are welcome to join any of our floats – be sure to call to let us know you are coming so if we have any last minute changes we can get in touch. Also for any of our floats we rent out the available canoes or kayaks not used by the group.