May 12, 2022—With nearly 80 people turning out, Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s Ice Cream Social at Goodwood Museum and Gardens was especially energizing after two years of virtual ice cream socials. While our (pandemic) web-based gatherings 
were quite fun, complete with a creative sundae competition, it was wonderful seeing everyone today spread out under the oak trees visiting while swaying to the good tunes shared by Somethin’ Sassy. I was especially glad to see many new faces, including children tossing frisbees in the grass with family members. Thank you all for coming out! Here’s the photo album from the day.
And let me also interject, thank you board members Katie McCormick and Kim Sash for being the creativity and technology gurus on two years of virtual events. You carried the torch for us!
As tradition dictates, the toppings supplied by board members, staff and volunteers were a creative mix of healthy fruits to sugary syrups. Thank you to the young adult volunteer ice cream servers, Adrian Carroll, Jack Nisa and Jude Zelznak. We also appreciate all the chopping, slicing and dicing of fruit provided by Cathy Gregory, Nona Elder and Angie Riviere. There were numerous others that pitched right in setting up, cleaning up and jumping in wherever needed. Thank you. 
Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s (AR) inaugural ice cream social was back in summer of 2013. I was an AR volunteer leading eco-educational outings periodically and I had completed my second RiverTrek. Tom Herzog, incoming board president asked me to join the board of directors and I quite unintentionally got myself in charge of the fundraising and special events committee. The committee wanted to host a gathering in Tallahassee to energize and connect with Leon County area members. So, I asked Doug Alderson, also an AR volunteer, for some ideas. (Doug and I coordinated the RiverTrek campaigns together). Doug said, “How about an ice cream social?” And our annual gathering at Goodwood Museum and Gardens was hatched.
The RiverTrek 2022 Team was announced at the “Sundae Sunday,” with some in attendance. This included John Alber, Cameron Barton, Cameron Baxley, Deb Burr, Alex Reed, Angie Riviere and me. We’re thrilled with this year’s volunteer kayaking team. Please watch for updates coming in June and we look forward to seeing you at future community gatherings. We”ll soon need “all hands on deck,” to help promote the annual RiverTrek awareness and fundraising campaign. We’re grateful for all that you do to share the news on the important work of Apalachicola Riverkeeper!
Here’s the team list. RIVERTREK 2022: Alex Reed, Angie Riviere, Cameron Barton, Cameron Baxley, Dave Gessert, Deb Burr, Georgia Ackerman, John Alber, Kai Rains, Kim Miller, Matthew Wheat, Shirley Kasser Creech and Tom Herzog.
Georgia Ackerman is Riverkeeper and Executive Director at Apalachicola Riverkeeper. She can be reached at [email protected].