| FRIENDS OF THE OCCOQUAN (FOTO) |
Mission Statement
Friends of the Occoquan is a non-profit organization of local citizens who preserve and maintain the natural integrity of the Occoquan River and other Virginia watersheds by promoting community awareness through public and private partnerships.
Vision of the Friends
To energize individuals, community and business groups to take on the challenge of keeping Northern Virginia’s Reservoirs clean, by controlling excessive sedimentation and pollution. This message will be brought to schools, civic groups and community organizations, as well as local and federal government agencies.
Goals
- Coordinate watershed management efforts and programs.
- Open communications and develop cooperation among intergovernmental jurisdictions regarding the watersheds.
- Provide decision makers, policy makers, and citizens with accurate information.
- Develop public and private partnerships focused on maintaining the natural integrity of drinking water sources.
- Engage the community, including the Spanish speaking population, to become stakeholders of our rivers and streams.
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SANTA'S OLD BRIDGE PARADE, November 10, 2007
Renate and German Vanegas were chosen among the three honorees as Grand Marshals for the 12th Santa's Old Bridge Parade in Lake Ridge, VA., together with Col. Franklyn Matthews, Director of the Woodbridge High School JUNIOR ROTC program, for their contribution to the environment and for making life better in the community. Members of the Aquia Corvette Club graciously volunteered to chauffeur the Grand Marshals.
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| Renate Vanegas and Col. Matthews |
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| German Vanegas and Col. Matthews |
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| Lee, a member of Aquia Corvette Club |
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| Woodbridge HS JUNIOR ROTC |
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| Woodbridge HS JUNIOR ROTC |
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| Garfield HS |
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| Garfield HS |
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| Mini Corvettes |
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| Mini Corvettes |
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| Reviewing Stand |
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| Reviewing Stand |
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| Public Library members |
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| Public Library members |
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| Freedom HS Air Force JUNIOR ROTC |
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| Michelle McQuig, Virginia State Delegate |
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| Mike May, PW County Occoquan Supervisor |
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MANASSAS, September 13, 2007
The Optimist Club International of Manassas presented FOTO with a Certificate of appreciation for their environmental efforts. Sam Shankar, President of the club and Lucy Beauchamp, Chairman of Prince William County School Board presented the award to Renate and German Vanegas, FOTO directors.
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| German, Renate, Lucy and Sam |
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WELCOME JENNIFER!
Jennifer Ratajczak has joined our Board of Directors. Jennifer who received her MBA at Marquette University, resides in Washington, D.C. and is very active in Environmental issues.
INTERNATIONAL SIGNS INSTALLED
On July 16, 2007 we completed the installation of seven signs: 2 at Bull Run Marina, 2 at Fountainhead Marina and 3 at Sandy Run Marina.
On December 27, 2006, in coordination with Brian Hennesy, Park manager, we installed six bilingual signs at the Occoquan Regional Park.Following are some pictures of these signs. |
FOTO RECEIVES FUNDING FROM EPA AS PART OF THE SMALL WATERSHED GRANTS PROGRAM
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA: On Thursday, August 24, 2006 the Friends of the Occoquan (FOTO) was honored by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Program as one of sixty-eight community-based organizations to receive funds from the Small Watershed Grants Program.
At the Announcement Ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland; special guest speakers, U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and Sen. Paul Sarbanes recognized grant recipients for their efforts in restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Over $2.6 million in Small Watershed Grants were awarded from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an effort to promote community involvement to develop and implement watershed management plans.
This is the third consecutive year that FOTO has received funding from the EPA. This year’s grant will be used to administer FOTO’s Community Watershed Outreach Program which focuses on engaging our diverse community in watershed awareness and stewardship. This program is a multi phased project that includes bilingual public service announcements (PSA), videos, watershed signs and literature designed to educate the public on issues facing their community’s respective watershed.
Betty Vanegas, Public Affairs Coordinator
The Award Cermony was held at the Adams Academy in Annapolis, MD. Main Speakers were: The Honorable Senator Paul S. Sarbanes; The Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin; Rebecca Hanmer, Director, Chesapeake Bay Program Office; John Catena, Northeast Regional Supervisor, NOAA Restoration Center and Thomas Kelsch, Director of Conservation Programs, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Following are some pictures of this event.
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| Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, Rebecca Hanmer, Thomas Kelsch |
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| Senator Sarbanes and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin |
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| Award Recipients |
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| Congressman Benjamin L. Cardin |
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| Senator Sarbanes, Alex, Cito , German and Renate Vanegas |
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| Attendees |
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| Cito, Renate and Alex Vanegas |
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| German A. Vanegas |
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| Renate and Alex Vanegas |
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FOTO NEWS, October, 2006
Laura Grape has moved to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission as a Senior Environmental Planner and the Editor of NVironment, a publication of NVRC. Laura is a supporter of FOTO and actively participated in several of our programs such as the cleanup for Fountainhead and design of the International/Bilingual Signs. Laura can be reached at lgrape@novaregion.org.
Claire Blanchard completed the Occoquan Water Trails, a 40-mile water trail paddling adventure beginning at Bull Run Regional Park and continuing to the Rte 28 Bridge in Centreville; Bull Run Marina; Fountainhead Regional Park; Lake Ridge Marina; Occoquan Regional Park; Mason neck State Park and ending at Pohick Bay Regional Park. This Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority project is part of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network. On October 4, 2006 German A. Vanegas, as a FOTO project partner, attended the last meeting of the project partners conducted by Claire. For more information contact CLAIRE BLANCHARD CBLANCHA@nvrpa.org. |
MEMBERS OF CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM OFFICE VISIT FOTO
On September 15, 2006 three members of the Chesapeake Bay Program Office visited FOTO. We reviewed some of our ongoing programs and showed them the Town of Occoquan, Lake Ridge Marina, Bull Run and Fountainhead. Alicia in charge of the newsletter, wrote an article about FOTO in the Chesapeake Bay newsletter: "In tiny Occoquan, VA........." To read this article click here.
Below are some pictures of this visit.
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| One of the bilingual signs |
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| Hanna Bracken, Brent McCloskey and Alicia Pimental |
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WETLAND MODEL PRESENTATION
On Saturday, November 4, 2006, FOTO met Cub Scouts #1344, at the Occoquan Regional Park. Renate G. Vanegas discussed the importance of wetlands and demonstrated the wetland model. This model is the one that FOTO is promoting and soon will be given to teachers and other watershed organizations. Afterwards cub scouts and their parents cleaned up the river around Shelter 4.
Following are some pictures of this event. |
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| Presentation by Renate Vanegas |
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| Presentation by Renate Vanegas |
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| Presentation by Renate Vanegas |
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| Cub Scouts in action |
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| Cub Scouts in action |
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| Results after hard work |
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| Robert Flowe, Cub Scout leader |
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| Cub Scouts in action |
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| Reviewing cleanup efforts |
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| Reviewing cleanup efforts |
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| Robert Flowe, Cub Scout leader; John Gavin |
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| Town of Occoquan |
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| Town of Occoquan |
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| Town of Occoquan |
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| Town of Occoquan |
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EDUCATION AND COORDINATION
FOTO is working with community groups, schools, state and local governments to promote Northern Virginia's watershed preservation. FOTO continues to expand contacts with other groups to enlarge watershed stakeholders. Installation of international signs along the watershed is one of our projects.
FOTO is proceeding to engage the Spanish speaking community of Northern Virginia to become stakeholders of our watersheds and become active in maintaining clean and safe our rivers. In addition to the bilingual signs described below, we will be installing other bilingual signs in Fairfax and Prince William Counties. Also we are preparing videos, literature and some TV programs.
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