The Clinton Chapter was chartered in 1942 with 69 members. Soon after, they obtained property from the Clinton Park Board that became known as "Ikes Peak." In the late '50's and early '60's, we boasted nearly 1200 members, being the third largest chapter in the League. After the sale of the property in 1992, we began the search for a new home.
In 1996, we purchased & were donated 60 acres of land 5 miles northwest of Clinton on Highway 136. We now have a beautiful Chapter house overlooking a 1 1/2 -acre pond that we call "Ikes Haven." The Clinton Chapter has been a leader in "Clinton County Conservation" from its beginning until the present. We presently have 125 members and are always looking for more. We meet on the third Thursday of every month and have a delicious potluck supper beginning at 6:30 (the Chapter furnishes the meat and everyone brings a dish to pass) and a meeting following. Their are always interesting and timely programs prior to the business meeting. Our Board of Directors meet every first Tuesday at 6:30. Those meetings are open to the public. Our grounds are beautiful and well kept by volunteers. Our Chapter house is a two story building with upstairs being a meeting hall that will comfortably hold 75 persons. The lower level has a nice kitchen, dinning area and handicap accessible restrooms. The dinning area seats about 35. Many functions flow out of doors on to the grounds. Our facility is for rent to members and their guests. |
River Rat in Clinton
Woodsman will spin tales at Vernon Cook theatre
Kenny Salwey was sitting in his tent camp on the Mississippi River one evening about 20 years ago, swatting mosquitoes, when a river warden pulled up in his air boat. Salwey didn’t always have a cordial relationship with the wardens, given that he didn’t always follow the rules or get permits.
But the warden didn’t want to talk about rules or regulations. Instead, he had a request. It seems the warden had committed to giving a talk to 55 teachers at a workshop in Wabasha, Wisconsin, sponsored by the department of Natural Resources and the Fish and Wildlife Service, but now he couldn’t make it. He wondered if Salwey would take his place.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather” says Salwey, who up until that time had done no public speaking, had barely graduated from High school and spent his life as a Wisconsin “river rat”, eking out a subsistence existence by fishing, trapping, and hunting. He told the warden he didn’t care much for school or for teachers.
The warden turned on him. “He told me he thought I was one of the most selfish, greedy people he had ever met,” Salwey says. “All you do is take, take, take from nature,” Salwey recalls the warden saying. “You should go and share something with someone for a change.
When he added that Salwey also would get $25 And a free meal, Salwey agreed. And that was the start of what now has become a way of life for Salwey, who travels the Midwest giving talks about old-time river rats and the river ecosystem.
Salwey will be in Clinton on Thursday, March 10th for a 7:00PM appearance at the CHS Vernon Cook Theatre. A 2007 visit at the Putnam Museum was sold out with standing room only.
Salwey’s talk to the teachers was a pretty scary experience for him. “I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” he says.
But to his surprise, the rich tales that he had been spinning in smaller gatherings of friends or family were well-received by the teachers too, and he had a sudden insight about the circle of life.
While his love and appreciation of nature came first-hand through a lifetime of living in the woods, many people nowadays are divorced from nature and therefore don’t appreciate, value or protect it.
He realized he needed to spread the word. “You can’t love something you don’t know anything about,” he says. “I needed to give it away in order to keep it.”
The presentation escalated to “things I never thought I would do,” he says. In addition to talks, Salwey has written several “river rat” books and he is the subject of an Emmy-winning film called “Mississippi: Tales of the Last River Rat”.
The film captures the dynamics of the Upper Mississippi backwaters and bluff country and focuses on the seasonal ebbs and flows of the rivers’ plant and animal life as seen through Salwey’s eyes. It was created for the British Broadcasting Company and will be shown with his presentation at Vernon Cook theatre.
He hopes his talks will show people what it means to live with the rhythms of nature and will help change the world. He is decidedly upbeat.
“There are two ways to change the world,” he is fond of saying, “revolution and education. I think education is the way to go. The problem is, it takes forever to see results. One has to have patience. Just keep casting those seeds. Young folks are the key. Sad to say, us older folks have not done a very good job of taking care of nature. With the young folks, you can see the results already. Every school has an environmental day, an Earth day; they recycle. Gosh, it took us forever to realize we could use something more than once. It’s pathetic. These are all good signs. Certainly, I’m optimistic. You bet!”