Debris hangs from trees on the banks of the French Broad River near the main building of Hot Springs Resort and Spa. The river gauge at Hot Springs was offline during the main rain events immediately preceding the Sept. 27, 2024 floods but registered a peak just under 21 feet. The record stage is 22 feet, but that record will likely fall after review of provisional weather-gauge data by the National Weather Service. Much of the debris generated by flooding on the French Broad River in Western North Carolina made its way downstream toward Douglas Lake in Tennessee.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Volunteers needed for 36^th Ijams River Rescue set for March 8

KNOXVILLE  — The thousand-year rains brought by Hurricane Helene flushed incalculable amounts of garbage from multiple major watersheds in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina in late September 2024. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority, for instance, resorted to booms and cranes to corral and collect thousands of tons of garbage along more than 200 miles of Douglas Lake shoreline. The cleanup continues.

High water downstream also carried debris and detritus of every description into Knox County via the French Broad River, which then deposited it along urban and regional lake and stream banks.

Removing this pulse of pollution and flotsam from the Tennessee River, already known as a conduit of microplastics, could take years or generations. You can start the process March 8 along multiple TVA lakes in the area. We all live downstream.

Here’s the release from Ijams Nature Center, one of the main sponsors of the annual event:

Volunteer and make your community a cleaner, healthier place to live, work and play during the 36^th annual Ijams River Rescue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8. A severe weather date is set for Saturday, March 15.

Ijams Nature Center’s annual cleanup event brings together hundreds of individuals, families, Scout troops, businesses and church groups to remove tons of trash and tires from sites along the Tennessee River, creeks and streams. Sites are typically located in Knox, Anderson and Blount counties. 

Ijams Nature Preschool students were the first to explore the Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve before it opened to the public in May 2022. Customers who purchase or lease a new Subaru from Grayson Subaru Nov. 6, 2023-Jan. 2, 2024, can choose to have Subaru of America, Inc., donate $250 to Ijams as part of the 2023 Subaru Share the Love Event. Donations will be used to expand this natural play area as well as improve the Mead’s Quarry swim area.  Cindy Hassil.

Starting in mid-November, getting a new car from Grayson Subaru could mean new places to play and learn at Ijams Nature Center.

Grayson Subaru has chosen the nonprofit nature center as its hometown charity for Subaru of America, Inc.’s annual Subaru Share the Love Event.

A child defends an elaborate stick fort at Ijams Natural Playscape, which opened this week at the South Knoxville nature center.  Ijams Nature Center

New Ijams playground reconnects kids with neighborhood woods, forts and creeks of yore

KNOXVILLE — Ijams Nature Center officially opened a portal into pure childhood beast mode this week.

The Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve is specifically designed for young children to play in a creek, climb hills, dig, build, crawl and engage with nature in an organic, unstructured way. The new space features a large nest, tunnels, log steps and different rooms to play in.

“For generations, many of us had the opportunity to roam and play in the woods, empty lots and fields that surrounded our homes and neighborhoods,” Ijams Executive Director Amber Parker said. “We remember the freedom we had to use our imagination, test ourselves and become a part of the natural landscape, at least until we were called home for dinner.”

Martha, Elizabeth, Mary, and Josephine Ijams (from left) are seen in this 1923 photo. The girls were active in scouting and became accomplished naturalists early in life. Ijams Nature Center

Help give thanks across history to founders of the South Knoxville nature center and celebrate the addition of 3 acres

Cindy Hassil is a writer for Ijams Nature Center.

KNOXVILLE When H.P. and Alice Ijams purchased 20 acres of land along the Tennessee River in 1910, they couldn’t have known their family would still be contributing to the legacy that would become the 318-acre nonprofit Ijams Nature Center more than a century later. 

Ijams Nature Center will celebrate the contributions of the Ijams family and dedicate three acres of land recently donated to the nature center by H.P. and Alice’s granddaughter, Martha Kern, at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 28. The public is invited. 

The Fleurish fashion show will feature sustainable and stylish clothes to reduce your big old footprint on Earth.  Courtesy Fleurish/Ijams Nature Center

Help rock the catwalk at Ijams’ display of sustainable clothing

Cindy Hassil is a writer for Ijams Nature Center.

KNOXVILLE — Clothes can be a burden to both bear and wear. Ijams Nature Center offers fashionable alternatives with sustainability cred this month.

Ijams and Natural Alternatives Salon and Spa will present Fleurish: A Sustainable Fashion Event, from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, April 24.

“Fleurish is a runway show focused on how sustainability, conservation and beauty intertwine and affect our lives … and our future,” Fleurish Creative Director Ben Prager said. “This event engages the audience in ways that will help the average consumer make changes in their day-to-day lives to better impact the planet while never losing sight of the beauty of nature and the human experience.”

Twelve local designers, along with hair stylists and makeup artists, are coming together to create looks using both recycled and natural materials.