The Water Monitor Team's St. Patrick Parade float

Five members of the Valley Community Association's Water Monitor Team rowed in a float that was a boat in the great Old Neighborhood Parade on Saturday March 14th. The streets were lined with green people eager to catch candy and to say that they knew what they were drinking. They said that because the banner on the float asked the question, "Do you know what you are drinking? - referring to the contaminants that flow down our streams to end up in Lake Erie, the source of our drinking water.

The Water Monitor Team is sampling the Buffalo River at three sites on a monthly basis and sending their data to BNR. Water Monitor Team member Kayla Hardy (a student at DaVinci High School) designed and painted the Team's banner. It was rigged on a mast in the center of the boat so that it could turn in a full circle to display on the reverse side the banner of Buffalo-Niagara Riverkeepers.

The Team members riding in the float were Kayla Hardy, Kayla Carpino, Ashley Luna, Eric Prentice, and Jordan Kulesz. Team member Chelsea Locke was marching with another VCA contingent. They were joined by Green Team members Angelo Rosati, Samantha Hayes, and Teresa Vanloan. Our camera person was South Park High School teacher (and Green Team coordinator) Adam Hovey. Ashley, Eric, and Jordan are students from South Park are Green Team members. The Green Team's major project is the restoration of the habitat of the Bailey Peninsula.

The Water Monitor Team is led by the Valley's Science Firsthand program manager, Jennifer Pigeon. The Team is one-third of the VCA's "In Our Backyard" project, a DEC-funded program to increase environmental justice in the Valley Community through gardening, composting, recycling and water monitoring programs. For more information contact Lori Overdorf or Jennifer Pigeon at 823-4707 x 4.