The Pewaukee River Partnership is a community group that works to increase
awareness of the Pewaukee River and its surrounding watershed
to residents and visitors of Waukesha County.
awareness of the Pewaukee River and its surrounding watershed
to residents and visitors of Waukesha County.
Monday, October 6
Riverkeepers cleanup day.
A special thanks to the Pewaukee Riverkeepers Club for all the work they completed at the outfall.
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Checking out the job ahead. |
Bringing the large rocks back to the shoreline.
Gloves on, getting ready to pitch in.
Rock replacement and shoreline repair.
Update - Progress made as of Friday, August 8.
Below - Work on the boardwalk began Thursday, July 17.
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| Charlie Shong, Brian Harms and Jim Willis were working hard. |
Friday, May 16, Planting the bridge flower boxes.
 PRP members: Charlie, Beth, Nancy, Jim, Linda, and Matt braved the wind and rain to get the job done in one hour. Per Nancy's suggestion, a willing passerby was recruited to take the photo. |
Saturday, May 3 and May 10
The trees are first compressed and bundled, then fastened down to stakes to form a channel to direct the flow of the river. Participants: Charlie, Brian, Matt, Jim and Linda.
Recent Workday - Saturday, April 26
Removal of old boardwalk sections completed.
Coffee and donut break. Old section in foreground.
Old boardwalk sections and new ones to be installed.
Removal of some old boardwalk sections.
A crew of three: Charlie, Brian Harms and Matt Opie managed to get several sections out with two remaining. They probably could have used a few extra hands as the sections were quite heavy.
Safety First
Boardwalk repair on Hickory Street accomplished March 8.
Exciting Upcoming Project
The connecting boardwalk construction by the bridge
to start early spring.
Note: There will be no Pewaukee River Partnership Native Plant Sale this May.
Thank you everyone who has participated in the past.
More information in the sidebar: Notes from the President, Charles Shong.
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| Holiday bridge decorating participants. |
Halloween Decorating was a great success.
Liz and Charlie Shong looking on, with Brian Harms hanging the flying bats.
Jim Willis and Nancy Koepp enjoying a visit.
Beth, Jim, Charlie and Luke working on rock stabilization at the outfall on Saturday, September 14.
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Bioengineering project up-stream of the bridge at Koepp Park.
Bundling the brush.
Taking it to the river's edge.
Brush bundle ferried out to site.
Bundle installation.
Finished project.
Beth, Jim, Charlie and Luke working on rock stabilization at the outfall on Saturday, September 14.
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| Bundling the brush. |
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| Taking it to the river's edge. |
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| Brush bundle ferried out to site. |
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| Bundle installation. |
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| Finished project. |
Wildlife on the Pewaukee River
Photo Credit: Rose Andersen
"Spotted the pair of Bald Eagles this morning hanging out at the river behind the recycle area.
Was able to get pretty close to them to capture many photos on 2/8/2024."
Could they have a nest nearby?!!
"Spotted the pair of Bald Eagles this morning hanging out at the river behind the recycle area.
Was able to get pretty close to them to capture many photos on 2/8/2024."
Could they have a nest nearby?!!
November 2023 - Holiday Decorating Day
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| Michele Harms holds an ornament. |
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| A family enjoys designing ornaments. |
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| There were tasty homemade cookies! |
Paul Evert and Charlie decorating.
St. Nick?! Jim Willis in his stylish hat.
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| St. Nick?! Jim Willis in his stylish hat. |
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| Charlie Shong and Brian Harms. |
Stop by the bridge to see the
Fall Decorations
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| Charlie Shong, Jim Willis and Paul Evert, plus friends and family decorated the bridge Saturday, October 21. Pumpkins and flowers donated by Schulte's Greenhouse. Some passing families with children were recruited to decorate the pumpkins. They did a great job. |
September 2023 – Invasive Plant Removal
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| The Pewaukee School’s River Keepers Club works with the River Partnership to remove willows and invasive plants along the river at Koepp Park. |
2023 Clean Water Festival
The River Partnership table had watershed maps, River Monitor information
and the River Animals ID Game for the children.
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| Children's animal ID game |
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| New signage was completed for the bridge. |
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| Recent Great Egret Photo taken by PRP member, Ray Schwabe. |
Simmons Woods Park Buckthorn Removal Project
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| Charlie Shong and Paul Evert loading the chipper. |
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| Jim Willis lends a hand. |
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| Tom Calder picks up larger pieces. |
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| Derrin Kehl clearing cut brush. |
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| Laying down the chips on the path. |
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| Brian Harms in a cleared section. |
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| As always, refreshments! |
Summer 2022 Project:
Removing the old boardwalk.
High water from recent rains made for easier removal.
Charlie rows out to the boardwalk, detaches a section and attaches the rope.
The section is pulled to shore and fastened to the mighty minivan hitch.
Jim Willis guides the section around the fence and plantings.
Rain Garden Walking Tour had great attendance!
The tour began at Pewaukee Public Library rain garden, ended at Koepp Park/Penny VanHorn bridge.
Sally Ruf, Master Gardener; Jane Jenks, Conservation Specialist; Charlie Shong, Pewaukee River Partnership President guided the tour.
Thanks to all who attended and showed their interest in our community and in ways to make our natural spaces better.
Earlier this summer.
Clean Water Festival, June 25, Pewaukee Lakefront Park
The Partnership had a table at the Clean Water Festival held on June 25 at the Kiwanis Beach Party.
Pewaukee River Partners, Friends and Guests:
I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. I would like to thank all those who helped at the Clean Water Festival. The turnout was quite good. We ended up with over 20 pins in our watershed map that showed where visitors lived. Many were surprised to find that the water from their backyard flowed to the Pewaukee River and on to the Gulf of Mexico. We educated many and hopefully will end up with a few more volunteers.
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| Finding and pinning your home on the watershed map. |
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| Partnership members Paul Evert and Nancy Koepp helped out. |
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| The "passport" check off for children involved identifying animals in and near the river. |
Pewaukee's Sixth Graders in Action
June 2022
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| Charlie Shong explains about the kayak launch ramp project. |
Another Successful Year for the PRP
Annual Native Plant Sale
2022
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| PRP President Charlie Shong and Treasurer Nancy Koepp found a nice shady spot for plant pickup. The plant sale pickup is complete and all of our customers were happy. This sale, which is our only fund raiser allows us to operate without dues and provides the money needed for our various projects through out the year. |
Thank you to all who ordered.
You are helping the River Partnership while adding to the beauty and ecology of the community.
A Look Back at 2021
Bioengineering project up-stream of the bridge at Koepp Park.
Pewaukee River Partners, Friends and Guests:
During this time, it is always good to look back on some of the Partnership’s accomplishments from the past year. Not in any order of importance, last year we did the following:
- We donated $500 to the Pewaukee Scholarship Fund to be awarded to a student going into some type of environmental scholarship.
- We participated in the Lake Country Clean Water Festival to educate people about water quality issues and what our organization does.
- We continued to support our river monitors through the watershed.
- We replaced the damaged wood at the outfall railing.
- We removed the rip-rap that had found its way into the river at the outfall and placed it back on the shoreline where it belonged.
- We continued to work on our bioengineering project up-stream of the bridge at Koepp Park. This project is working to reestablish the original stream banks.
- We removed brush on the west bank by the outfall to allow people a view of the river. This brush was then tied in bundles and added to our stream bank project.
- We put a new coat of paint and stain on all of Penny’s Bridge and the approaches.
- We continued to maintain the bridge by removing the snow, mowing and weed whipping under the approaches, replacing lights, planting the planter boxes and adding the holiday decorations. Members are also involved in keeping the parking lot trash free.
- We held a successful Plant Sale to fund all the things that we do.
In spite of the challenges 2021 presented, I think we can all be proud of what we were able to accomplish and the improvements made to water quality and our community.
Thank You to all who supported us financially, on the ground working on projects, shouting words of encouragement or just spreading the word about our organization. I look forward to working with you in the year to come. Charlie
Projects
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