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8 WILLAMETTE FALLS FESTIVAL October 2, 2013
By SAM DREVO
Have you ever floated the Clackamas
River in July or August? It is a common
paradox to enjoy the pristine emerald wa-
ters while floating past piles of aluminum
cans, plastic bags and leftover remnants
of a picnic left behind.
It was after a summer of viewing this bla-
tant littering that a group of friends drew the
line, and took action. Together, three kayak
instructors from eNRG Kayaking collaborated
on an effort that started a movement. This
sustained effort, now called Down the River
Clean Up, has lasted over a decade, and has
kept over 50,000 pounds of trash from being
washed into the Willamette River. We have
paddled, cleaned, and removed invasive spe-
cies along the Clackamas River annually (the
Sunday after Labor Day), while helping create,
support and nurture over 2,000 river stewards.
We celebrate the Clackamas River as a vital
resource that provides drinking water to over
400,000 Oregonians. Down the River Clean Up
spawned the creation of We Love Clean Rivers,
a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has
created and honed a river cleanup model that
promotes collaboration, community building,
healthy living, sustainability and art.
Come experience why “We Love Clean Riv-
ers” during the 2013 Willamette Falls Festival.
The event will kick off with a benefit dinner
Friday evening, Oct. 4, hosted by the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde at the Museum of
the Oregon Territory in Oregon City. This
wonderful evening will be an opportunity to
learn about the Willamette Falls Heritage Ar-
ea Coalition, the Grand Ronde Tribes and We
Love Clean Rivers. The theme of the night is
“Celebrating Our Industrial Heritage,” and we
are asking all participants to help contribute
to a RiPPLe art project by bringing one item
We Love Clean Rivers at the 2013 Willamette Falls Festival
The dinner featuring a traditional
Tribal menu will be served at the Muse-
um of the Oregon Territory Friday eve-
ning, Oct. 4, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Chef Bennett, a James Beard-nominated
chef and owner of the Sybaris restaurant in
Albany, creates menus from locally-sourced
meats, fish, game, fruits and vegetables. His
passion is for the food traditions of Oregon’s
Kalapuya Tribe, one of the Grand Ronde
peoples who have inhabited Oregon for over
15,000 years. Such traditional foods as veni-
son, lamprey, salmonberry leaves, huckle-
berries, camas, nettles, acorns, wapato,
steelhead, crayfish, mussels and quail show
up regularly in his recipes.
The benefit dinner menu will feature
Grilled Wild Oregon Chinook Salmon,
Chilled Smoked Venison Sausage, a taste of
barbequed eel on camas-acorn crostini and
other culinary delights.
According to Bennett, his culinary cre-
ations should not be taken as some anthro-
pological study of Native American foods,
but “as modern as the Confederated Tribes
of Grand Ronde are today.” Still, as he notes,
“it is hard to cook and eat these foods with-
out thinking of those that came before.”
This special dinner is Willamette Falls
Festival’s way of giving back to the commu-
nity. The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde have donated the dinner as part of
the Tribe’s ongoing commitment to keeping
the lands and waters in its ceded lands
healthy and sustainable. The dinner benefi-
ciary, We Love Clean Rivers, is dedicated to
mobilizing the recreation community to help
clean high-use rivers, such as our own Wil-
lamette River. All proceeds, after expenses,
will be donated to this cause.
Tickets are available through Monday,
Sept. 30, atWillametteFallsFestival.com/din-
ner for just $50 per person, a tax deductible
contribution.
Thank you to our dinner sponsor: PGE
(Portland General Electric).
TRADITIONAL FOODS DINNER TO
BENEFIT ‘WE LOVE CLEAN RIVERS’
■ Kicking off this year’s Willamette Falls Festival will be a benefit
dinner showcasing native Oregon foods prepared by renowned
Chef Matt Bennett and hosted by the Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde in support of We Love Clean Rivers, a non-profit
organization committed to river vitality.
PHOTO BY: MICHELLE ALAIMO, COURTESY OF SMOKE SIGNALS
Chef Matt Bennett, owner of Sybaris Bistro in
Albany, plates the main course of Chinook
salmon, roasted spring vegetables and wild
ginger royale during the Confederated Tribes
of Grand Ronde’s First Salmon Dinner at the
McLean House in West Linn on May 15.
(fist size) that you would rather not see in the
river, or have found in the river in the past.
This dinner will be one not to miss.
Saturday, Oct. 5 will be a very special day for
We Love Clean Rivers. Morning activities will
kick off with what we do best -- cleaning the
Willamette River. We will be participating in a
boat-based cleanup as part of the Great Willa-
mette River Cleanup on the banks of the Wil-
lamette River- from eNRG Kayaking at Sport-
craft Moorage downstream to Clackamette
Park from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. A contingent
of volunteers focused on invasive species re-
moval will also initiate a blackberry and knot-
weed removal on Goat Island across from the
Confluence of the Clackamas and Willamette
River.
At noon on Saturday, join in a special art
dedication at the entrance of Clackamette
Park. We Love Clean Rivers, along with the
Clackamas County Arts Alliance and City of
Oregon City, will celebrate the official dedica-
tion of “Mid Run,” a RiPPLe legacy sculpture
created by Oregon City artist Ben Dye. This
sculpture will stand as a testament to the ded-
ication of the more than 2,000 volunteers that
have participated in the Down the River Clean
Up over the past decade. As part of the sculp-
ture project in the last 18 months, We Love
Clean Rivers cut and removed over 700 feet of
one-inch industrial cable that was strangling
trees on the banks of the Lower Clackamas
River, as well as removed over 10,000 lbs of
metal from the base of the falls with a KFS
docks tug boat, crane and barge. It is the goal
of We Love Clean Rivers to continue to im-
prove the health of Oregon’s rivers, and work
to develop more river stewards while telling
our story through art projects such as “Mid
Run.”
Bring the whole family to Clackamette Park
to experience RiPPLe art demonstrations on
Saturday, Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., where
artists will make art from river trash. Don’t
miss the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
cultural demonstrations while you’re there.
Plus, check out the new Clackamette Park
RV Kiosk project built by the Clackamas High
School. Meet students from the high school
and “Mid Run” sculptor Ben Dye as he works
on installing a new art piece in the kiosk.
Watch Dye in action from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
Saturday, Oct. 5, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sun-
day, Oct. 6. See you there!
COURTESY OF WELOVECLEANRIVERS.ORG
2007 Down the River Clean Up safety meeting in Carver Park, Clackamas River.
COURTESY OF WELOVECLEANRIVERS.ORG
Kayaker & sushi chef Chris Jones removes metal
out of the Clackamas River.