Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 906 "Voice of the Lower Mississippi River" Memphis, TN ~ Helena, AR ~ Clarksdale, MS ~ Vicksburg, MS
News & Films: 1) Mississippi River Expeditions in Memphis Magazine May 2, 2023, by Anna Traverse Fogle 2) Forbes "The Best Places To Travel In The U.S. In 2023" Where to go: Mississippi April 13, 2023 by Laura Begley Bloom 3) Chris Battaglia: MESSIPI Mississippi River Documentary now online Exploring the "Wilderness Within" ~ Rivergator Expedition 2017 4) Grey Beard Documentary Now Live! by Zak Rivers and Wilderness Mindset Keep reading below for links and the rest of the story!
Mississippi River Expeditions in Memphis Magazine, May 2, 2023, by Anna Traverse Fogle
Excerpt:
Growing up in Memphis, I was taught to fear the Mississippi River, that most majestic and mighty feature of our natural landscape. From what I pieced together as a kid, the undertow was so strong that to submerge even a single toe in the water proved a death wish. Years ago, when my father bought a kayak and began to take it out on Saturday floats, I worried he would be sucked up by a barge, pulled under by the current, or perhaps beaten up by an angry catfish.
And yet, when I heard last year about a local guide who escorts groups on the river in long canoes, I immediately wanted to get out on the water myself. Fear and curiosity are close cousins, turns out.
Which is how I found myself strapped into a bright blue life vest on a recent Saturday morning, climbing into a ten-person canoe steered by Matthew Burdine, who runs Mississippi River Expeditions, and accompanied by several adventuresome colleagues and one husband (mine). After a quick safety talk (“I’ll keep you alive if you keep me alive”), we pushed off, into the river wilderness that defines our city. Burdine is a character: He’s a Delta native who earned an MBA from Ole Miss, spent time on the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon’s “vertically grand world,” and now introduces Memphians and visitors to the “horizontally grand world” of the Mississippi; his company is an outpost of Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi. With his mane of sunbleached hair and shaggy beard, he fits the part of the river raconteur; as we climbed into the vessel, he slyly warned to watch out for “river mer” (think mermaids and mermen, but “not as pretty”) and “river fairies.” Click here for the rest of the story...
From: Forbes The Best Places To Travel In The U.S. In 2023 Where to Go: Mississippi Why: The Magnolia State has everything a traveler could want in 2023, from a cutting-edge culinary scene to buzzing small towns to incredible natural beauty. Excerpt: When it comes to nature, Quapaw Canoe Company runs daytrip and overnight wilderness customized expeditions on the Lower Mississippi River via its Back Waters, Bayous, Oxbows and Flood Plain. The Mississippi also offers great birding throughout its forests and sandy beaches, and the Mississippi Coastal Birding Trail helps guide visitors to identifying over 40 birding sites identified by local birders. ...Continue Reading Here Excerpted from Forbes The Best Places To Travel In The U.S. In 2023 Where to go: Mississippi April 13, 2023 by Laura Begley Bloom
Chris Battaglia: MESSIPI Mississippi River Documentary now online! Conversation between the film and the film-maker: FILM: Why hasn't anyone been able to see me since we premiered at the Clarksdale Film Festival, friggin' 5 years ago? CB: Well...because I thought I had the energy/knowledge/time to re-edit it to really make it ready for the "festival circuit" where so many people would have been able to see it properly—on the big screen! Also I kept calling it a "rough draft" so officially I could submit a new, final version that could screen at festivals that I probably wouldn't have even gotten accepted to... FILM: But I was so meaningful to that packed house of people! You screened me to friends and family like five times that year and scribbling in that fucking notebook of yours that you probably lost, along with all the "notes" for your "re-edit." CB: Right. I probably still have it somewhere... FILM: So why are we going live now, and why am I getting rented out? CB: Folks have asked for you over the years, and so much time and energy and passion went into editing you. The renting is so that I can try to support myself off the various independently produced projects I work on, as a part of my career. Oh yeah! Also: I have realized I would/could make another version of this film, and perhaps if enough eyes watched, and enough people shared, and it became a small way to fund that post-production, I see it as a potentially viable source of funding. Plus $5 is very reasonable, I think. Amanda helped me figure the price. Very hard process. FILM: Okay, so why did we do this in dialogue— CB: Roll the tape! Click Here for the rest of the story in Chris Battaglia's Village Canoe Newsletter
Grey Beard Documentary Now Live! Last year my good friend Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders’ became the oldest man to complete the 2,340-mile-long journey in a canoe from the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, MN to the Gulf of Mexico. Zak Rivers and Wilderness Mindset have made a feature-length film documenting Dale's accomplishment. The film has been released on DVD and video streaming on April 1st, 2023. Go here to watch and for more info! Or cut & paste: https://greybeardthedocumentary.com
End Note: This River Has Rights Water is Life May 11-14, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa
Experts and advocates from across the nation, the public is invited to a related “Walk for River Rights” on Saturday, May 13th, starting at Schwiebert Park (101 17th St., Rock Island) at 11:30 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m. at the Figge Plaza (225 W. 2nd St., Davenport).