Pictured (l-r) are Didier Nobels, president of the St. Andrews Rotary Club; Joye Rush, Kelli's mother; Kelli Rush, scholarship winner; Chantis Gordon, scholarship winner; George Bickley, Chantis' grandfather; and Jim Bull, director of vocational service for the St. Andrews Rotary Club. Mike Dawson, executive director of the River Alliance, spoke to the St. Andrews Rotary Club July 3, 2007. In the summer of 1994, local leaders asked Dawson, a serving colonel in the U.S. Army, to create an organization that could unlock the potential of Columbia's 90 miles of rivers. The resulting organization, the River Alliance, is based on citizen participation and close relationships with local governments. It has been a wonderful catalyst for development of the Saluda, Broad, and Congaree Rivers

Dawson grew up in Chattanooga and graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS in civil engineering. He earned an MS in systems technology from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and an MS in strategy and policy from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Didier Nobels, president of the St. Andrews Rotary Club; Cara Brown Ringer, executive assistant of the River Alliance; and Mike Dawson, director of the River Alliance. In his free time, Mike runs, paddles, gardens, and works on a 90- year- old Tudor house in Wales Garden. He is a founding member of the Wales Garden Neighborhood Association, a member of the board of the Five Points Association, and a member of the board of the Waterfront Center.

He told the St. Andrews Rotary Club members of the great things happening along the rivers in the greater Columbia area. Beautiful pictures of the developments, directions to the river walks, and videos of the significant changes are on (www.riveralliance. org).

Two scholarship winners were also recognized at the meeting: Cadet Colonel Chantis Gordon and band member Kelli Rush, 2007 graduates of Irmo High School. Chantis will major in accounting at Midlands Technical College, and Kelli will attend Wofford College.