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CRWD seeks images – old and new – of local watershed

 

Historic, beautiful, recreational, artsy, fishy – they’re just some of the adjectives for the thousands of photos submitted by the public since 2017 for the Cedar Scenes social-media project. 

On May 1, the seventh annual Cedar Scenes will start a 22-week run on the Cedar River Watershed District’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/CedarRiverWD. Ending Oct. 1, the project will batch submitted photos into weekly postings that award one winner each week as chosen by CRWD staff. 

All posts for Cedar Scenes can be found on Facebook by searching for the hashtag:  #cedarscenes

Open to all ages, each person is limited to two photo entries per week, with every image posted counting as one entry in the October drawing for a 10-foot, sit-in kayak sponsored by the Austin Runnings store. Despite the limit, everyone is encouraged to send numerous images at any time as the district will create a digital folder for each person from which to pull images each week. 

“That way, people taking part in Cedar Scenes don’t have to remember each week to send another two photos to us,” CRWD outreach coordinator Tim Ruzek said. “It helps them and helps us to keep Cedar Scenes filled with interesting photos.”

Cedar Scenes posted a record year for participation in the 2020 season during the pandemic, with 78 individuals submitting 533 images. The 2022 season, however, wasn’t far off, attracting 69 participants who submitted 548 images. 

Lisa Peters, of Austin, who submitted 17 photos last year, was drawn as the kayak winner in October. 

All photos submitted to CRWD can be used by the watershed district for nonprofit uses as the CRWD is a local government unit that communicates with and educates the public on the watershed and water-related issues. 

Photos for Cedar Scenes can be new or old/historic but must showcase water or a water-related scene in the Cedar River watershed within Minnesota. One exception is the stretch of the Cedar from the Minnesota-Iowa border to the former dam site in Otranto, Iowa, several miles downstream where Mitchell County maintains an access.

Within Minnesota, streams that qualify for Cedar Scenes include the Cedar River State Water Trail, Dobbins Creek, Turtle Creek, Wolf Creek, Little Cedar River, Rose Creek and others. Popular sites in past years have included Austin Mill Pond (Cedar); Ramsey Dam and Mill Pond (Cedar); Jay C. Hormel Nature Center (Dobbins Creek); and East Side Lake (Dobbins). 

Submitted photos must be the person’s own photo or have been approved for submission by the photographer. Entries must include the submitter’s name and general information about the photo’s location and date.

Weekly winners will be announced on CRWD’s Facebook page. The grand-prize winner of the Runnings kayak needs to be at least 18 years old or come with a parent or guardian to get the kayak. 

To submit photos for Cedar Scenes, you can:

• Email images to: tim@mowerdistrict.org
• Use Facebook to send images to CRWD (tag, post on CRWD’s page or use Facebook Messenger)
• Drop off images (digital or print) at the CRWD office in Austin (1408 21st Ave. N.W.)