The One River Mississippi event Saturday night at Itasca State Park was a class act.
Park Rapids can be proud of the organizers and participants. The event held a large audience at the Mississippi Headwaters spellbound for more than an hour.
Young dancers posed like statues along the path from the plaza of the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center to the earth-turned-stage at the Headwaters. The performance flowed with drums, prayers, music and the rhythm of dancers.
"Our dance is about celebrating and nourishing life," the program told us. At the site, children waded across the Headwaters as children and adults from around the world have been doing for a century. The choreography for the dancing that followed reflected the themes of a Heavenly Blessing, Glaciers that carved out the earth and shaped the hills and valleys to support the mighty river when the frozen waters melt," the work and play of the early European settlers and "Dancin' in the Mississippi Mud."
Maybe you had to be there to begin to appreciate the work that went into the event and the beauty of Saturday night's performance.
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The intent was to embrace the Mississippi River and its watershed as a shared resource and share the hope that individuals and communities will become better stewards of the river.
As the program pointed out, Hurricane Katrina sent a wake-up call about the issues facing coastal Louisiana and the necessity to restore its vital but endangered ecosystem. The coastal wetlands of Louisiana have acted as a barrier protecting the coast from hurricanes and flooding but much of that landscape has been destroyed. The US House Energy Committee is considering funding for restoration through revenue sharing including the reallocation of off-shore oil royalties. That would be a start.
The rest is up to communities along the river and their commitment to manage the watershed - in other words, it's up to us.
By the way, if you missed One River Mississippi Saturday night, a documentary is being made of the events at all seven sites. We'll let you know when it's released.
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Brainstorm of the week: Stopping for pedestrians can be terrifying, fearing either that the vehicle behind you will rear-end you or another will pass on the right and "take out" the people you've allowed to cross.
How about creating a bumper sticker that says: "I stop for peds." If nothing else, it might raise awareness.
