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FEBRUARY 2005COOPER'S LANDINGNEWSLETTER |
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| Volume 2, Issue 1 |
February
2005
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THANK
YOU, MARGOT Margot Gendreau Margot Gendreau-Gangidino, 51, of Columbia, died on Oct. 4, 2003, at Boone Hospital Center of acute pulmonary complications. Mrs. Gendreau-Gangidino was born on Feb. 19, 1952, in Bay Shore, NY. Upon graduation from Northport High School in 1970, Margot enlisted in the United States Army where she served as a pharmacy technician. Upon completing her military obligation, she moved to Columbia, Mo. She continued to serve in the armed services as a member of the local army reserve unit located in Columbia. In 1996 she graduated from Columbia College, Columbia Mo., with a bachelor of arts. Margot worked at the VA Hospital and Ellis Fischel pharmacies, until she took a position with a major pharmaceutical firm as a sales representative. Later she assumed the position of the Midwest Government Affairs Representative for another international pharmaceutical company. Margot also worked as the government affairs representative for the Missouri Dental Association, and as a sales representative for The Add Sheet. Most recently, she did computer graphics design and web site development for several local businesses. Margot contributed to the community in many ways during her life. In spite of being diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis, she continued to be active in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Leadership Missouri, and the Women's Symphony League. Margot was entered into the "Who's Who in the Midwest" for 1994/1995, certifying her as an individual who demonstrated outstanding achievement in her field of endeavor, and thereby contributed to the betterment of society as a whole. Margot had a warm and wonderful attitude towards life and humanity. She brought light and vitality wherever she went, and she touched many people's lives. She will be greatly missed. Margot is survived by her husband of five years, Keith Gangidino, also of Columbia. Memorials are suggested to the Multiple Sclerosis Society or the Missouri Symphony Society restoration fund for the Missouri theatre. Margot's Epitaph Anyone who has spent much time looking at this website must see that its designer loved Cooper's Landing. Margot was one of the most sincere and loving people I have ever known. I met her when she sold me a magazine advertisement, which brought me no reward. But while the ad was running she created a flyer for my new lodge, and she designed an early website. She was enthusiastic about the projects I was working on. She contributed great ideas, and encouraged me to set higher goals and believe they could be achieved. By the time the ad had run, I realized the money lost on the ad was insignificant compared to what it is worth to find a true friend like Margot. To see her deal with progressive multiple sclerosis without self pity and continue to be able to achieve her goals was inspirational. She put this website together knowing I could not afford to pay her what it was worth. She accepted my payments of labor on her house, some trips to town and occasional cash with a beautiful smile. Until I read about her in her obituary, I didn't know about her difficult childhood and only vaguely knew about her military service and contributions to many wonderful organizations. I can still hear her encouraging me to do greater things. She will always be in my heart, and in the hearts of everyone who knew her. The last newsletter that Margot and I put on the website was dated Aug. 3, 2003. She and I both believed that our newsletter was an important contribution to the community of people who share our interests. I am hereby attempting to continue this project to which Margot was willing to devote so much of her energy. As I maintain this website, I will try to preserve as much of the work that Margot did as possible. I have had to remove some of the pages from the website so that I can maintain it myself. Sometime in the future, I hope to be able again to post recent pictures of boats, people and fish. I miss you Margot, Mike Cooper Cooper's Landing TransitionsMuch has happened since the last newsletter in August of 2003. With assistance from a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation, Cooper's Landing constructed a new stairway to connect the boat dock to the services on the river bank. The stairway acts as a guide and slide for the ramp that leads to the dock. The new stairway was designed as a way to easily control a large dock located in a fast current. This project was completed in time to welcome the Lewis and Clark re-enactors on June 3, 2004. We will have more detailed information about the Lewis and Clark party and campout in the next newsletter. On July 1, 2004, although Cooper's Landing had held a liquor license for 17 years-absent of any citations-Cooper's Landing liquor license was denied because the supervisor of Liquor Control alleged that Mike Cooper was not eligible to possess a liquor license because he did not have "good moral character." For the rest of the summer, musicians performed music free of charge in order to support Cooper's Landing. The entire community rallied around Mike Cooper and the Landing by writing letters to the liquor supervisor and state representatives. Local radio, print and television media supported Cooper's Landing through news stories and editorials. After testimony in front of the Administrative Hearing Commission, the Commission determined that Liquor Control should not have denied the liquor license and ordered the license be reinstated. The loss of the liquor license for over four months hurt Cooper's Landing financially, but had the benefit of reinforcing Cooper's Landing's strong connections to the local community. Now in the off season Cooper's Landing serves as a location for meetings for several Missouri River-oriented organizations. The Missouri River Communities Network (MRCN), Missouri River Relief (MRR) and the Missouri River Cultural Conservancy (MRCC) have different roles to play but all are working to promote the local communities and be responsible stewards of the Missouri River. We encourage you to support these organizations. |
Missouri RiverCommunities NetworkMRCN is a Columbia, Mo.-based nonprofit organization that works to strengthen, protect and connect Missouri River communities, as well as enhance interest and care of the Missouri River. Look for a new edition of The Current, MRCN's newsletter, coming in March 2005. Click here to join the mailing list! 2004-5 AmeriCorps ProgramMRCN's AmeriCorps program got off to a running start in November 2004. Here is a brief list of the current projects its 11 members are working on:
Look for MRCN at the following events!
For further information on any of these projects, or MRCN in general, please contact: Missouri River Communities Network, Outdoors Building, 200 Old 63 South, Columbia, MO 65201. New movie of the 2003-4 MRCN AmeriCorps program(music by The Discovery String Band)Dates for 2005 Missouri River Clean-ups Early planning meetings for river clean-ups have attracted dozens of eager volunteers who are excited to get down and dirty in 2005. People are readily admitting to being "cleanup addicts" and are lining up to help out with every skill from map-making to fund-raising. River Relief Clean-ups Scheduled for 2005: April 30 at the Confluence of the Mississippi River May 14 at Providence Bend (Cooper's Landing) Sept. 24 at Franklin Island Conservation Area near Boonville Oct. 8 at Kaw Point in Kansas City Event coordinators are Jeff Barrow at the Confluence, Steve Schnarr at Providence Bend and Lynne Hooper at Franklin Island. For information or to volunteer, call Missouri River Relief at (573) 443-0292 or check out the website at www.riverrelief.org By JEFF BARROW River Relief provides outdoor learning fairs for students, teachers Missouri River Relief connects people of all ages to the Missouri River. During river clean-ups, volunteers help clean and restore the shores and islands. Through educational efforts, River Relief hosts learning fairs for students (K-12) and workshops for teachers. Since 2002, more than 3,300 school children have attended outdoor learning fairs from St. Louis to St. Joseph where they have had hands-on opportunities to learn about the river and its value as a natural resource. In 2005, Missouri River Relief and its partners will host about 2,000 students in St. Louis, Boonville and Kansas City. Environmental Learning Fairs for school children River Relief kicks-off its year with a learning fair for fifth-graders on Friday, April 29 at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. About 700 fifth graders will assemble at the river to learn about watersheds, fish and wildlife, water pollution, stormwater, river history, solid waste, recycling and much more. River Relief will host an outdoor learning fair for mid-Missouri students on Friday, Sept. 23 at Franklin Island Conservation Area in Howard County. Kansas City area students will attend a learning festival on Friday, Oct. 7 at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kansas. This is an excellent opportunity for agency and business partners to participate in these educational efforts by providing presentations or financial support. Each of these events will be followed the next day by a volunteer river clean-up. Youth groups, with their sponsors, are encouraged to participate. Big River Educational Workshops for teachers Missouri River Relief is adding workshops for teachers in 2005, starting with a 4-hour workshop on Friday, April 29 at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. Working in partnership with Living Lands and Waters and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, this workshop is scheduled after school for the convenience of teachers. Educators will receive resources to integrate the Missouri and Mississippi rivers into their curricula. Elements of Biology, Ecology, Geology, History, Sociology and Chemistry will be integrated to give a multi-disciplinary approach to river education. Teachers will learn from professional conservationists and others about invasive species, river morphology, bottomland ecology, Stream Teams, river history and more. Most of this workshop will be in boats on both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Missouri River Relief will co-host a two-day workshop on Monday, June 13, and Tuesday, June 14 in Columbia, Mo., with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The workshop will be classroom based on Monday and will head outside on Tuesday. The outdoors day will be devoted entirely to the river, with fisheries biologists, foresters and others demonstrating river science from boats and sandbars. Teachers who desire it can receive one hour of graduate credit through Lincoln University. How to get involved Sign-ups for both teacher workshops can be done by following this link: http://www.dnr.state.mo.us/oac/river-cleanup.htm . Those interested in offering resources to help make our educational efforts a success may contact Steve Mellis at steve.mellis@centurytel.net or at 573-442-5084. USGS Study on Wingdikes To Missouri River collaborators: A new USGS Open-File Report is available that details a study on the Lower Missouri River evaluating the effectiveness of notching wing-dike navigation structures to create additional shallow-water habitat, a type of habitat considered important for the recovery of the Missouri River ecosystem. The study, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, documents that immediately following the notching, depth, velocity and substrate in the wing-dike areas were substantially changed; however, very little area meeting the shallow-water habitat definition was created, possibly because there was insufficient time for the river to adjust to the new wing-dike geometry. The study also provides discussion of the level of monitoring effort needed to assess restoration performance on large rivers. For information, please contact Robert B. Jacobson at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, MO 573-876-1844 or rjacobson@usgs.gov "Assessment of Shallow-Water Habitat Availability in Modified Dike Structures, Lower Missouri River, 2004" is available online at http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/pubs/center/pdfDocs/OFR-2004-1409.pdf |
