PRESS RELEASE:
Each month this summer, the French Broad Riverkeeper and MountainTrue are partnering with a local brewery and outdoor gear manufacturer to brew a beer, organize a river cleanup, and paddle down the French Broad River. For the month of June, the collaboration was an obvious choice. Catawba Brewing Co. and Astral had already worked together last year on a popular river beer, the Astral Bootie Beer Session IPA. So, it was a natural homecoming when members of each company participated in the river cleanup. To provide further support for this important initiative, Catawba pledged $1 from every Bootie Beer sold in the month of June. Catawba co-owner Billy Pyatt recently presented French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson with a check in the amount of $1033.
About Catawba Brewing Company
Founded by the western North Carolina Pyatt family in 1999, Catawba Brewing operates a main production facility in downtown Morganton, NC at 212 S. Green St; a boutique brewery/tasting room in downtown Asheville, NC at 32 Banks Avenue; and a tasting room in Asheville’s Biltmore Village at 63 Brook St. Catawba beers can be found in NC, SC, TN, and now AL. Find us at catawbabrewing.com
About French Broad Riverkeeper
Our summer-long Save The French Broad campaign was a tremendous success, raising money and awareness to protect the French Broad River’s water quality and build the French Broad River Paddle Trail℠. We smashed our fundraising goal of $20,000, and raised over $36,000!
Throughout the summer dozens of bars, businesses, and restaurants encouraged the public to “give of their liver to save the river” by buying paper Sweetwater fish, paddling for 9 days down the French Broad River, sponsoring a paddling friend, or racing down the whitewater section of the river.
The funds from this year’s campaign are already being funneled to build the French Broad River Paddle Trail and protect clean water. Two campsites have recently been built along the French Broad River and five more are planned for this fall and spring. This would fully connect over 120 miles of the French Broad River as a world class paddling destination.
About Astral Designs
Founded in 2002, our first products were life jackets that were known to promote calm confidence in the most extreme whitewater.
In 2012 we started making footwear because sandals are awkward, neoprene booties are toxic, and there was no river shoe with adequate grip, let alone good looks. Our approach to footwear proved successful and now people everywhere love our light, high performance kicks that have crazy grip and can play in water.
Our reason for being is to make gear that elevates human’s experience in Nature, consciously made to preserve pristine soil and clean water. To maintain this focus, we remain independently owned and operated.
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