It's our 25th anniversary! Let's celebrate our connection to the river.
In 1992, a roomful of people gathered to lay out the future of a new national park flowing through the heart of the metro Twin Cities, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA).
At one of the first public meetings to create a management plan for the park, a few “river rats” looked around and felt a bit out of place. While people representing business and government interests were in attendance, there weren’t many like them: people who loved the river and were willing to speak on its behalf. That’s when Friends of the Mississippi River was born.
Officially incorporated in 1993, FMR has grown from a handful of founders to engage over 5,000 people annually as river advocates and volunteers — at community meetings, at the capitol, and in hands-on river protection and restoration projects. Likewise, our headquarters has grown from a walk-in closet to a half-floor of a downtown St. Paul building with 20+ staff in four program areas: water quality, river corridor and land-use, land protection, and stewardship and public engagement.
Over the years FMR has protected and restored thousands of acres of forest and prairie habitat, reduced harmful pollutants, and protected our sense of identity as a river city by preserving beloved views, parks, and natural areas that connect our metro communities to the river. All the while, we continue to cultivate tomorrow’s river stewards, engaging over a thousand youth in river protection and education activities annually.
One of our biggest overarching accomplishments, notes FMR executive director Whitney Clark, "is the large movement we helped to create, elevating the profile and status of the Mississippi River in our area. Now, when a decision about the river is being made community members ask the question ‘Will it hurt the river?’ before proceeding.” This is a significant change in the metro-wide conversation, a paradigm shift.
“But none of this work would be possible,” says Clark, now in his 21st year as executive director of FMR, “if it weren’t for our collective affinity for the river. At a very deep level, the river speaks to us, gets into our soul and becomes part of who we are and where we're from.”
And this year, our 25th, we're celebrating the personal and cultural connections that foster and celebrate our love for the river.
Our river in story, art and song
Throughout July, Write to the River is on exhibit at Wabasha Brewery in St. Paul, featuring stunning photos of the river by Tom Reiter and the prose and poetry that they inspired by readers of our e-newsletter, Mississippi Messages.
Online, the FMR River Story Map offers a different way to navigate our Big River: chart your course through fellow residents' personal stories of the river as a source of adventure, change, healing or unexpected guidance.
And the theme of our annual fall event, "An Evening Celebrating the River," is "The River Inspires," celebrating and featuring local, acclaimed artists of various media who look to our Big River for inspiration and rejuvenation. This promises to be a powerful evening. Mark your calendar for Thursday, September 20th, 5:30 to 8:30 PM. Tickets will be available online soon!
Finally, the Mighty Mississippi has inspired generations of musicians and songwriters. How could we let our 25th anniversary year flow by without a 'river songs' playlist?
Tell us your favorite song about or featuring the Mississippi River on Facebook. (Don't do facebook? Feel free to email your suggestion to John Czyscon, memberships@fmr.org, with "River Song" as the subject.)
We look forward to sharing our final silver anniversary soundtrack and staying in touch about all things FMR and Mississippi River-related in future Mississippi Messages.