River Day

By Adrienne W., Siletz 5th Grade
May 3, 2000

    On April 27th, our school celebrated Siletz River Day.  First at about eight thirty our class went to music.  And around nine we left to start our River Day.
 
    Beth Jones went with us to help Mrs. Bellman.  Beth is a high schooler. My sister Rachelle, my friend Kirstyn, Beth and I went with Angie.  She's our parent helper and driver.  She brought her son along too.  Jordon is his name.  He was kind of fun to be with.

    The first place we went was to Illahee Fish Hatchery.  It was kind of cool  because there was a bridge across the water that the fish were in.  About twenty minutes after we got there, I had to use the bathroom.  There was an outhouse but it looked nasty so I didn't use it.

    The second place we went was to Mary's house.  I know her from when my dad painted her bathroom and I helped him.  She is like a grandma to me.  She is very nice.  She let our class go in her 100 acre yard to explore the Siletz River running through her property.  The path was very muddy.  Amber lost both of her shoes in it and Kirstyn lost one of her shoes, too.

    When we got down to the river, Lance started to talk conditions and told us what they were going to do to the bank of the river so that trees would grow.  He said he is going to plant trees on the bank to make the river healthier because the trees help keep the pollution out of the river.  The reason why the trees aren't growing is because the cows stomp on them when there trying to grow.  So OF&W are going to put a fence alongside the river so the cows can't walk on them.

    When we were done exploring the river, we walked back to Mary's house.  When we walked in she had all kinds of snacks to eat. We all chowed down.  About ten minutes later we all gave Mary a hug and left.

    The third place we went to was Steer Creek.  Jill lives right up above it.  The coolest thing about Steer Creek was the fish ladder and the screw trap that was catching the fish.  Jim from OF&W was weighing and measuring
the fish. He marked some of them with a dye before he let them go.

    The fourth place we went to was Cinda's house.  The reason we went there was because the Siletz River is in front of her house. We didn't really do much there but play with their dog.  She has a very cute dog but I forgot his name.  The space between each side of the river looks like a canyon because the water washed it away when the river flooded. That's called erosion and OF&W will probably help her plant trees to hold the soil to the bank.

    About a half an hour later, our class went back to school and boy were we hungry!  I don't know about the rest of my class but I had fun out in nature, on a rainy day, with people who could teach me things about my Siletz River.