As part of our mission to provide access to the Mississippi River and its tributaries, we headed down to Dyersburg, TN on Saturday, September 26, to provide canoes, outfitting and livery for the first “Dyersburg Fall Festival Canoe Trip” event. Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised by the turnout of 35 people at the Forked Deer River put-in about 9 miles above downtown Dyersburg. We unloaded the full contingent of eight canoes we brought and the related gear.
Within an hour, seven were rented and outfitted and the flotilla of paddlers set off in the meandering flow. We met the group a few hours later in downtown Dyersburg and enjoyed the challenge of a true river rat landing. I spent a few hours helping folks land and climb up an ingenious ladder to the top of the bank, then with assistance from Dyersburg’s finest, the firemen, we hauled each boat up to the high ground. Watch a video of this great event.
Dyersburg has become the headwaters of a proposed “Blueway” which connects this old Northwest Tennessee community to the river metropolis- Memphis, TN- as part of a water trail and development area. Under the direction of the lovely and talented Diana Threadgill, the Mississippi River Corridor has become a very effective and exciting agency helping to develop awareness and access to the greatness of the Great Rivers. Diana not only makes it happen in the office, the board room and the community, she is a very fine paddler too. Steve Guttery, Director of Downtown Development for Dyersburg Chamber of Commerce, is another excellent advocate for river recreation and conservation. Steve and his colleagues have turned the realization that Dyersburg exists because of the Forked Deer River into a blossoming development strategy. One example is the transformation of an old lumber yard into a park including a masterfully rehabbed lumber storage structure now the home of the local farmer’s market and civic events. All in all, I’d say Dyersburg TN is a river city that gets it.
