January 29, 2013
Dear River Citizens,
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
One of our country’s great heroes, Harriet Tubman, spoke these words over 100 years ago, but when something touches a universal truth, it becomes timeless, relevant today and everyday to come. A new calendar is a blank slate, fresh, clear, receptive, expectant and prepared to be filled with a new year full of adventures. Anything you can dream, you can do; it just takes planning and patience to make it reality. With this in mind, an amazing feeling of potential and curiosity wells up inside me as I open my brand-new 2013 calendar.
Now is the perfect time to dream and plan for 2013.
Before we get caught up in daily life again, take the time now to make a commitment to help celebrate and protect our Mississippi River. Don’t delay. Block out a 4-day weekend (or more!) to visit a city or town by the water. If there is a music festival, like King Biscuit or Memphis in May, you have always wanted to attend, make this the year you go. Or if you aren’t interested in “doing” something, there are dazzling state and national parks waiting to help you disappear, detach and be still. For more examples of ways to celebrate the Mississippi, click here to find the blog post, “Listen to Your Inner Child”.
As for 1 Mississippi, we have dreamed, planned and developed an important surprise for all River Citizens. To celebrate the New Year – and the fifth year of the campaign – we’ve launched a new and improved website!
The goal of the site is to help people appreciate the greatness of the River, share the problems it faces and give people the tools needed to change their understanding, habits and, ultimately, the world. There is still great information, a calendar of events, an advocacy center and many beautiful photos. Coming soon there will be new sections on reasons to celebrate the Mississippi River, including sections on the many ways the River has shaped our country’s music, culture and history. As the campaign has grown and technology advanced, we realized it was time to upgrade. The new site works well with smart phones, so you can get this great information on the go as well!
Explore the new 1 Mississippi website!
- Use the Explore page as a jumping off point to dream about your next great adventure.
- Read the complimentary blog post, “Listen to Your Inner Child” with lists of music festivals, museums and other River adventures.
- Consider becoming more involved with the campaign as a regional intern; resumes are now being accepted for the 2013 paid internships.
- Finally, let your imagination wander, get inspired and begin dreaming with the first blog post of the year. Titled “Change is Gonna Come”, it uses the famous Sam Cooke song as a springboard for thoughts about the River and threads it together with the greatest life lesson the River can teach us, that change is indeed gonna come.
Yours in respect and service,
Annette Gomberg, 1 Mississippi Outreach Coordinator
Mississippi River Trivia Question:
At its deepest point the Mississippi River is:
a. 50 feet deep
b. 100 feet deep
c. 200 feet deep