Quapaw Canoe Company
Juke Joint Update!
Canoe Rentals moved to Sunday due to high winds (gusting to 35mph) -- unsafe paddling conditions!
If you want to rent a canoe and paddle on Sunflower River during Juke Joint weekend, come on Sunday, April 15, open 10am-4pm. See below for more information. Sunday is forecast to be sunny and cool, and the river will be full from rains this weekend.
Sunflower River declared America’s #1 Most Endangered River:
Sunflower River declared America’s #1 Most Endangered River! Yes, again! (last time was #2 in 2008)... Our little muddy river with a bad case of the blues. Come learn more at American Rivers information table at Quapaw Canoe Company. More to follow in Monday's Dispatch.
Quapaw Canoe Company
Juke Joint 2018 Stage
Saturday inside Quapaw Canoe Company -- on the banks of the Sunflower River in downtown Clarksdale, 3rd & Sunflower.
Saturday, April 14th, 10am-5pm, 289 Sunflower Avenue (3rd & Sunflower Avenue), featuring Anthony 'Big A' Sherrod & the Allstars w/ Space Cowboy, Henry 'Gip' Gipson; Bill Abel, Butch Mudbone, Jesse Cotton Stone, Kenny Brown, Stone Gas Blues Band, and the Bryan Blue Band. See below for exact times and more info!
Juke Joint Festival 2018
Associated Activities
at the Quapaw Canoe Company:
Thursday-Saturday, April 12-14
*Sunflower River Camping
*Canoe-Carving Demonstration & Workshop
*1Mississippi -- Can the River Count on You?
*Sunflower River declared America’s #1 Most Endangered Rive
Saturday, April 14th
*Quapaw Canoe Company Stage
*Coahoma County High School:
Student Art Sale & Fundraiser for Art Dept.
*Emma’s Handmade Earrings
Saturday, April 15th
*LMRF -- Paddling on the Sunflower River
All events will meet & take place street level 3rd & Sunflower in downtown Clarksdale all day 9 - 4pm every day Thursday April 12 – Saturday April 14, 2018. Paddling on the Sunflower River only Sunday, April 15th.
For more information contact Quapaw Canoe Company or info@island63.com 662-627-4070, 662-902-7841, Mark “River” Peoples 662-902-1885, Lena Von Machui 662-313-6220, Shannon McMulkin 870-753-8954, or Jennifer Ruskey (208) 521-0476.
Sunflower River Camping
Wednesday - Sunday, April 12-15th, 2018
In partnership with the Clarksdale Police Dept
Quapaw Canoe Company is offering bathroom and shower access to persons camping along banks of Sunflower River in the City Park around our facility and in other places downtown. Bathroom and shower access is $25/tent/night for 2 people, $10 each additional person/night. Proceeds generated will be donated to our partners the Clarksdale Police Dept. Bring your own tent and sleeping bags. Don’t park on asphalt drive which the police use for access. Camping is in grassy areas of City Park to north of ramp, and any flat grassy places down along the river. Please don’t block gravel road access to Canoe Company. No open fires, but camp stoves, hibachis or small personal-sized BBQ okay. No smoking (city ordinance in public places). For more information contact: Lena Von Machui 662-313-6220, Mark “River” Peoples 662-902-1885. Quapaw Canoe Company 662-627-4070 or john@island63.com.
Canoe-Carving Demonstration & Workshop
Quapaw Canoe Company
9 am to 4 pm Wednesday - Saturday
Partner: Mississippi Arts Commission, Spring Initiative and GRIOT Arts
Location: Quapaw Canoe Company, 289 Sunflower (Third Street & Sunflower, opposite GRIOT Arts). Contact: 662-627-4070 or 902-7841. Catfish Dugout Canoe carving from 3-ton cottonwood log. Partnership with Spring Initiative and GRIOT ARTS youth programs. This project supported by the Mississippi Arts Commission. All ages welcome. We provide instruction, tools and safety equipment. Children under 18 must be accompanied by parents or guardian. Contact: Quapaw Canoe Company 662-627-4070 or john@island63.com.
(Sunday Only!) Paddling on the Sunflower River
Quapaw Canoe Company
Fundraiser for the Lower Mississippi River Foundation
10 am to 4 pm Sunday (Pick your time and stay out as long as you want)
Canoe or kayak or SUP. Paddle the beautiful (and muddy!) Sunflower River through downtown Clarksdale with the “back-door view” of Red’s Lounge, The Riverside Hotel. Possible run through a Delta Wilderness with a take-out at Hopson Plantation. Meet Location: Quapaw Canoe Company, 289 Sunflower Third Street & Sunflower, opposite GRIOT Arts). Contact: Shannon McMulkin 870-753-8954 or 662-627-4070. $25/person includes paddles, life jackets and all necessary gear. Fundraiser for the Lower Mississippi River Foundation.
1Mississippi -- Can the River Count on You?
Quapaw Canoe Company
9 am to 4 pm Thursday - Saturday
In partnership with 1Mississippi - MRN - Mississippi River Network
Ongoing Exhibit and Southern campaign headquarters for the 1Mississippi River Citizen Program. Come on over and learn about how you can help protect and better the waters of America, our drinking water, swimming water & lifeblood of the nation. Become a River Citizen and join us in making the Mississippi River sparkle like the beautiful “Queen of Rivers” that she is. Contact: Mark “River” Peoples 662-902-1885 or email markriver@island63.com.
Sunflower River declared America’s #1 Most Endangered River
Our humble little Sunflower River making national news again… As America’s #1 Most Endangered River... The Sunflower seems to do this every once in a while… In 2008 it was declared #2…. It’s been sung about, written about, legal battles fought over it. It’s virtues have been extolled. It’s flooding is always cursed. Our little muddy river with a bad case of the blues. Go paddle the Sunflower on Sunday and get a better feel. Come learn more at American Rivers information table at Quapaw Canoe Company. More to follow in Monday's Dispatch.
Saturday:
Coahoma County High School:
Student Art Sale & Fundraiser for Art Dept.
Quapaw Canoe Company
9 am to 4 pm Saturday
In partnership with Coahoma County High School
Students from Coahoma County Junior and Senior High School will have original paintings for sale that have local scenes and blues related images and artists. The art pieces are really quite good quality with matting on the watercolors and decorated canvas frames for the acrylic paintings. The students will receive 50% of the sales and the rest will go to purchase art supplies for all of the classes. Students will be on hand for questioning about color choices, image selection and their use of the art principles in creating beautiful art. Thank-you for supporting our youth and the arts!!!
Emma’s Handmade Earrings
Quapaw Canoe Company
9 am to 4 pm Saturday
Fundraiser for CARES
Emma Lou Crisler Ruskey will be selling her handmade earrings as a fundraiser for the CARES, the Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort & Shelter.
Quapaw Canoe Company
Juke Joint 2018 Stage
289 Sunflower Avenue (3rd & Sunflower Avenue)
10:00 am — Bryan Blue Band
11:00 am — Anthony 'Big A' Sherrod & the Allstars w/ Space Cowboy
Anthony “Big A” Sherrod is a young Mississippi bluesman, schooled by a noted blues teacher in the area, “Mr. Johnnie” Billington, who taught not only the music but the value of hard work and knowledge of the culture and history from which Mississippi blues emerged, a world where the musicians worked at very hard, low-paying agricultural jobs.
12:00 pm — Henry 'Gip' Gipson
Gip is 90-something years old, plays blues and owns the last juke joint in Alabama (owner of Gip's Place). DO NOT MISS HIM!
1:00 pm — Bill Abel
Bill Abel from Belzoni Mississippi plays the raw gutbucket blues he learned from Paul Jones, T Model Ford, Cadillac John and many other blues legends.
2:00 pm — Butch Mudbone
Memphis' long-performing Native American bluesman.
3:00 pm — Jesse Cotton Stone
Colorado-born, American highway-raised, bluesman.
4:00 pm — Kenny Brown
American blues slide guitarist skilled in the North Mississippi Hill Country blues style.
5:00 pm — Stone Gas Blues Band
Stone Gas is back! Shine Turner, Harvell Thomas, Dion Thomas and Stan Street.
For more information, go to website: Juke Joint Festival 2018
Contact: John Ruskey, Quapaw Canoe Company, 291 Sunflower Avenue
Clarksdale, MS 38614, 662-902-7841, john@island63.com
