1960Every year since: 67 and counting
The annual river clean-up
A float trip with a purpose.
Once a year the club picks a stretch of Ozark river, camps on it for a weekend, and floats it slowly with empty canoes that come out full. Tires, coolers, cans, lawn chairs, the occasional refrigerator: if it does not belong in the river, it comes out in a boat. The tradition began in 1960, made the Associated Press wire in 1970 with a photo of the haul from the Current River, and has not missed a year.
It is also the best weekend of the year to meet the club. Everyone comes, the work is shared, and the evening around camp is earned.
Most recent clean-up
The 67th, on the Niangua
Four tires, and surprisingly little else.
- River
- Niangua River: near the Highway 64 bridge to the Barclay take-out on Saturday, and the old Fort Niangua campground to Riverfront Campground on Sunday
- Dates
- September 12–13, 2026
- Crew
- Thirteen people (and one dog) in six canoes and two kayaks, including a four-year-old on her first float
The 2027 river and dates will be announced in the newsletter and at a club meeting. Non-members are welcome to join the clean-up. Read the full recap.
Missouri Stream Team #41
Watching over the Blue River
When Missouri created its volunteer Stream Team program, OWWC signed up early, becoming Stream Team #41 on June 13, 1989. The club adopted the Blue River, which rises in Johnson County, Kansas, and winds through Swope Park and the east side of Kansas City on its way to the Missouri.
Four times a year, volunteers trained through the program meet at the Minor Park tennis courts (11477 Blue River Road) to test the Blue’s water quality, keeping an eye on the stream through the seasons and reporting what they find to the state. The next testing day is Saturday, January 9, at 10 a.m.
The club also turns out for community events on the river, like Blue River Discovery Days hosted by the Heartland Conservation Alliance, and members have staffed educational displays at schools, fairs, and events for years.
Want to help? Stream Team training is free and open to anyone. Come to a testing day or ask at a meeting and a member will get you started.
“It’s hard work, but we are blessed with such beautiful streams in Missouri; it is easy to give back by taking care of a few of them.”
Judith Guyn, OWWC member, in Missouri Conservationist, June 2007
A longer view
Speaking up for wild rivers
The club’s founder helped start American Whitewater and argued for the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Members worked with the Ozark Society to save the Buffalo River from damming. That tradition continues in quieter ways: showing up for public comment, supporting the groups that protect the Ozarks, and teaching new paddlers to leave no trace.
- Missouri Stream TeamTraining, monitoring, and clean-up support for volunteers.
- American WhitewaterNational river conservation, co-founded by Oz Hawksley.
- The Ozark SocietyGuardians of the Buffalo National River since 1962.
- Ozark National Scenic RiverwaysThe Current and Jacks Fork, protected since 1964.