Area students gain environment, wildlife education through salmon journey project
An environmental awareness initiative, The Salmon Journey Project, came to the Sutter County Museum in Yuba City last week and blended art with environmental education through a workshop about the Yuba River system and the connection between people and salmon.
Artist Monica Farbiarz and wildlife biologist Kristen
Hein Strohm facilitated this workshop with enthusiastic and kid-friendly energy. They led the group through the song “The Salmon Journey,” and participants sang from a salmon’s point of view.
“I was born in the river under the surface of the redds. I was first a little larva, then became a little fish,” the song goes. “And I grew bigger and stronger to set out on a big journey, far beyond valleys and mountains, waterfalls and rocky streams.”
Setting out on a big journey, little salmon from the Yuba
River travel to the Pacific Ocean every year to find good ocean nutrients, and then the salmon return to the river to spawn.
However, local salmon face obstacles that impede their passage, such as shallow water and difficulty getting past the Daguerre Point Dam.
Strohm said it is important to help the salmon with their struggles because they are important to us and the ecosystem. After all, Strohm said, salmon feed the entire forest.
“So when that eagle took this salmon out of the river, that eagle carried that salmon far out into the woods, far up to the mountains, farther than any salmon could travel on its own,” Strohm said. “And the bears tend to do a very silly thing: not flying, but they can walk a really far distance away from the river.”
That is critical because salmon fertilize the trees with their bodies at the end of their lives. Salmon, specifically, can also be beneficial for our own heart and bone health.
“They nourish our bodies, and they can nourish our spirits,” Strohm said.
To show our relationships with each other, the workshop asked participants to work together to create a sea of movements. There
care of the community.
Cleveland and Richards are working to provide health screenings where individuals can get free checks of cholesterol levels and blood pressure, as well as diabetes and other help for those in need.
“We want everybody,” Cleveland said. “We get the community involved and ask for their support.”
The return of Saturday’s Hat and Tea luncheon helped fund the Bethel AME schedule through a $30 “love donation,” Richards said.
In July, Richards is
helping put together a three-day celebration in honor of the Bethel AME Church’s 170-year anniversary in Marysville.
As Richards pointed out, the church has faced and overcome many obstacles in its path over 170 years. Pandemics and fires have been no match for Bethel AME Church and the entity will look to move forward once again and honor its presence in Yuba-sutter.
Richards said the anniversary will begin with a gala/dress-up party on July 12, followed by a community concert where anyone can participate in
the church sanctuary on July 13, and a two-session guest pastor service on July 14.
Bethel AME provides weekly Bible studies and worship services on Wednesdays and Sundays that are live streamed via
its Facebook page. Each Bible study begins at 6 p.m. and worship service starts at 10 a.m.
To contact the church, send a message to bethelamemarysville@ gmail.com, or call 530742-3393, Richards said.