HAHIRA, Ga. – April 22, 2019 — Are you a songwriter looking for an opportunity to shine?
Do you care about keeping our local water and rivers clean?
The Second Annual Suwanee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest is a project created by WWALS Watershed Coalition. It will be held Saturday, August 24, 2019 from 1-5 p.m. at the Salty Snapper located at 1405 Gornto Road, Valdosta to help you do both.
You must be present to win.
You do not have to sing, but you do have to be onstage with your son’gs performance, rattling tambourine – or whatever! All finalists must arrive by 11 a.m. for sound check.
The Contest Committee will choose half a dozen finalists according to criteria such as that they’re really about some of our waters in the Suwannee River Basin. Finalists will be announced Saturday, August 10, 2019.
Radio personality Chris Beckham will be the Master of Ceremonies, as musicians play, the finalists perform, three judges deliberate, we all talk about outings and advocacy, and, finally, the winners will be announced. Then the winners play some more.
New this year: there will be one or more youth winners under 18-years-old.
The first prize is $300. Prizes of $50 each will go to one winner from within the Suwannee River Basin, and one from without. There will be one winner per musical genre.
There will be a silent auction, a kayak raffle, and a cash bar, and the snacks are included. At 4 PM you can order from the Salty Snapper menu as well, if you like.
The song submission deadline is Friday, July 12, 2019. The entry form is online, for your song lyrics and information about the song and to introduce you if you become a finalist. Every musical genre is welcome, and anything from spoken word or a capella to bands may play. You can send your song as an electronic file or on a USB stick or CD.
“Music and the arts lead the band of advocacy and awareness,” said contest committee Chair Scotti Jay. “And a beer with the music sure can help.”
Tickets are $10 online or $12 at the door. Or $150 per eight-seat VIP table right in front of the stage. Everything about the contest is online here:
Sponsoring the contest is a great opportunity for businesses and individuals to get their name in publicity about the Contest, from radio and TV and newspaper interviews and public interest spots, to a banner to hang at your place of business, to a banner at the event and a mention in the program. Help support clean water advocacy and get more people to see your business.
Local Georgia Beer Company is one of the lead sponsors for the event.
“When I was a reporter in Madison, Florida, I wrote about Valdosta sewage frequently,” said Georgia Beer Co. co-founder Chris Jones. “Unfortunately, that is still a story. We support Suwannee Riverkeeper to help stop that problem, and to clean up other things getting into our rivers.”
“I’m thrilled for this support of our water quality testing program by Georgia Beer Company,” said WWALS lead tester Sara Jay. “We can buy more testing materials and do more tests!”
“My grandfather used to run the Valdosta waterworks in the historic building that now houses Georgia Beer Company,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “It’s great that Chris and Jack know clean water is just as important now as it was back then.”
Founded in June 2012, WWALS has board members from multiple counties in south Georgia and north Florida, and members from all over the Suwannee River Basin and from farther away. Since December 2016, John S. Quarterman is the Suwannee Riverkeeper®, which is a staff position and a project of WWALS as the member of Waterkeeper® Alliance for the Suwannee River Basin.
