University News

QC Landing Welcome Party Oct. 3 for WIU Alumni Canoeing Length of Mississippi River for Conservation Awareness

September 29, 2016

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MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — Inspired by "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Western Illinois University alumni Haley Brasile (originally from Woodstock, IL) and Cody Presny (originally from Elk Grove Village, IL) have been paddling down the Mississippi in a canoe since late August.

The couple (who met while students in Macomb and working at Horn Field Campus) are alumni of the WIU Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (RPTA), and they took on the 2,320 mile trip—from Lake Itasca, MN, to New Orleans—to fulfill a mutual conservation goal.

"Our goal is to meet, volunteer with, and promote the Mississippi River Network, a group of 49 non-profit organizations that work to protect the waterways and the people who depend on them," Brasile said.

On Monday, Oct. 3 Brasile and Presny will land in the Quad Cities, and to recognize their efforts, Western Illinois University-Quad Cities is hosting a "Quad Cities Landing Welcome Party" at noon on the WIU-QC Riverfront campus in Moline. The event is open free to the public.

To document their journey, the couple is updating a blog on their amongstthecurrent.com website.

For more information, contact WIU-QC RPTA Associate Professor Rob Porter at (309) 762-9481 or via email at R-Porter@wiu.edu.

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing