Riverfest Riverside Chats 2024! Year of the Eastern Screech Owl

Join us at RiverFest this year in conversations with local authors/organizations - Riverside Chats! There will be 3 Riverside Chats offered this year on array of topics about our watershed including plants and herbs along the South River, the History of the South River,  and wildlife rehabilitation (especially owls!) You don't want to miss - More details at https://riverfestwaynesboro.org/ with schedule below:

• 11:00am "Energetic Herbs along the South River" with Kat Maier, founder and director of Sacred Plant Traditions, a center for herbal studies in Charlottesville, Virginia and author of Energetic Herbalism; A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine.
• 1:00 pm "History of the South River" with panel of local historians & educators - Nancy Sorrels, freelance writer, historian, and a former Augusta County Board of Supervisors member, Calvin Jordan from Virginia Dept of Environmental Quality, and Jeremy Hopkins curator from Waynesboro Heritage Foundation. Hear about the History of the South River from Native American artifacts found along it's bank to the industries and mills that have impacted it and how it has shaped our community.  Books available at discussion will be History of Waynesboro Volume I & II by George Hawke. 
• 2:30 pm "Rehabilitating Owls" with The Wildlife Center of Virginia, conservation education organization and hospital for native wildlife. Join Center staff members Amanda Nicholson and Connor Gillespie as they talk about why owls are admitted to the Wildlife Center, the treatment and rehabilitation process, training non-releasable education ambassador owls, and what you can do to help owls in Virginia. Books available at talk will be signed copies of What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman and Greta, the Great Horned Owl by Christy Gove both of which feature work being done by Wildlife Center of Virginia.organization. Books available at talk will be signed copies of What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman and Greta, the Great Horned Owl by Christy Gove both of which feature work being done by Wildlife Center of Virginia.
• Bonner Odell's YMCA Tai Chi/Qigong class will be taking their outside class to Riverfest! Feel free to join in some movement exercises and try out the 10 step Tai Chi that they're working on. They'll begin at Constitution park at 9am on 4/27 at Riverfest with a demonstration of Tai Chi following the class at 10:15. You're welcome to join the class or just come by and watch or ask questions!