By Carrie Stanziola

Friends of the environment and participants alike were out in full force on May 15 to celebrate the 15^th Annual Mystic River Herring Run and Paddle.  New and seasoned participants took part, such as twelve-year-old Indira Romero, who finished #1 in category 11-14, to Roger Frymire, who volunteers as a water quality monitor, with a concentration in finding bacteria. He has been paddling for 15 years and sampling water for the past 12. Frymire, who lives close to Magazine Beach in Cambridge, started paddling heavily since retirement and was tired of smelling sewage.  Thanks in part to the efforts of Frymire and those like him, the Charles River grade is up to a “B something and maybe we’ll get there in the Mystic soon.”

Various tents were set up to offer snacks and environmental information.  Among those individuals was Kenneth Krause, who was there on behalf of Friends of the Mystic River (FOMR.ORG)  Friends of the Mystic River is a Medford-based organization that has, for the last 16 years, works closely with watershed associations on improving water quality of the Mystic in the Medford area, by having, among other things, invasive plant removals.  Krause described the event as a great opportunity to bring awareness to water quality and celebrate the river.