Edward M. SmathersHappy New Year!
It has been some time since we have sent a newsletter, which we sent a few days ago. The Newsletter was abbreviated to make for an easier read by email, but we wanted to add a bit of detail for even more of our fans! We have included some updates and stats on our progress over the past year, along with a little information about where we are headed.
Where do we start?
We start with a HUGE thank you to all of our followers and fans who have supported us the past year. This has been an extraordinary year of growth for Dig The Falls and it is all due to people like you!
Our volunteer’s past and future efforts:
– I Love My Park Day Sponsor and volunteered at several locations (2018)
– Poestenkill Gorge/Burden Pond cleanup (Troy – 2017/2018)
– Oakwood Cemetery and falls cleanup (Lansingburgh – 2018)
– Indian Kill Nature Preserve cleanup (Glenville – 2017/2018)
– Ausable River Porta-John Program (contributor 2018)
– The Narrows – Impending partnership which will include a multi-year trail plan (Troy – 2018 and forward) – https://narrowstroy.org/
– Mine Kill Falls State Park – Continuing partnership to map/photograph trails
– Pixley Falls State Park – Pending work and collaboration to open a new trail system in the park
– New York State Waterfall Challenge
– Channel Partners and Friends of the Falls
This year was a great year for funding as we were able to raise $100 from our volunteers and sales of our Nalgene water bottles. This, added to the sheer amount of time donated, was really humbling for all of us at Dig The Falls! In all honesty, We would be proud to keep this energy up every year moving forward, but we have so many plans that we need to spread the word for us to help us reach our goals.
One thing we would ask from you is to help us spread the word.
All we need is for this newsletter/blog post to be forwarded and shared, or for our website or social networking sites to be shared, and it would make all the difference.
Our spend for this year was close to our previous averages of almost $10,000. This accounts for websites, ad services, travel, clean up materials and tools, and sponsorships like I Love My Trails Day. Our goal moving forward is to expand our capabilities even further so we can make an even bigger impact! Be prepared 😊 Feel free to make an impact with us by using the donate link below. Even modest donations make a big impact!
– Donate by Paypal –
One of our biggest challenges for 2018 was finding enough time and enough volunteers to expand our opportunities as quickly as they were presented. We turned down many opportunities because of this. This is why we will be planning well in advance of many of the events; to give people more time to plan for attending the hikes. This will also raise more awareness of the impact our volunteers are making! Keep an eye out for our future plans blog, which will give many of the dates we are looking forward to for 2019!!
Moving forward we will also need more help in data collection, which we are sure to cite our contributors for the information they help gather! This year we released our “v3.0” map that included over 2,000 waterfalls, with great thanks to Bobbies Waterfalls for going through the arduous years-long task of updating with her own information (her database has taken decades to build, so we have been fortunate to call her a teammate and family!). With the over 3,500 locations we have on our survey (many have been omitted due to posted property or safety concerns), we have come across a lack of manpower to help individually verify and photograph these locations. We are looking to our community to aid in these efforts!
Waterfalls of New York State Map
We will be adding more to our list of Channel Partners and Friends of the Falls soon as well! If you know of local businesses that care for their community and the environment, send them our way! It’s a free way for us all to network and just meet great new like-minded people!
Thank you so much for this wonderful year!! we plan to release even more blogs and locations moving forward, so keep an eye out and share if you like.
From our family to yours:
happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
John Haywood, Jacky Machell, Julie Hughes Romano, Stash Rusin, Edward M. Smathers (founder), Bobbie Sweeting (alphabetical order 😊)
For more information on New York State waterfalls, please visit our New York waterfall map.
