Friends of Starkweather Creek Annual Meeting Notice
Tuesday, November 17th, 2026
6:30 – 8:30 pm

Location:
Goodman Community Center
(Bolz Room A)
214 Waubesa Street, Madison

Please join us to celebrate another year of caring for our beloved creek!

Hear about our active year of native plant restoration work, monthly FUN events and the creeks’ health, including the latest news on salt and PFAS monitoring.

The UW-MADISON Water Resources Management program will describe their plans to study the Starkweather Creek Watershed.

PLEASE consider joining our Board of Directors. We meet monthly and each member chooses to support our work in ways that are meaningful to them and utilizes their unique talents and interests.

Brief business will include a Treasure’s Report, and Board member elections.

And of course, snacks to enjoy.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Questions?
Contact Lance Green, Chair, at greenlance@aol.com or 608-249-5979.

Please join us!!
All Are Welcome!!!

Friends of Starkweather Creek Annual Meeting Notice
Tuesday, October 21st, 2025
6:30 – 8:30 pm

Location:
Goodman Community Center
(Bolz Room A)
214 Waubesa Street, Madison

Please join us to celebrate another year of caring for our beloved creek!

Hear about our active year of native plant restoration work, monthly FUN events and the creeks’ health, including the latest news on salt and PFAS monitoring.

PLEASE consider joining our Board of Directors. We meet monthly and each member chooses to support our work in ways that are meaningful to them and utilizes their unique talents and interests.

Brief business will include a Treasure’s Report, and Board member elections.

And of course, snacks to enjoy.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Questions?
Contact Lance Green, Chair, at greenlance@aol.com or 608-249-5979.

Please join us!!
All Are Welcome!!!

In fall 2024 Friends of Starkweather Creek volunteers surveyed twenty waterbodies in Dane Co to measure levels of PFAS chemicals. We wanted to find out if PFAS were still flowing into Starkweather Creek and the downstream Yahara Lakes from longstanding fire-fighting foam used at the Dane Co Airport. We also sampled several other waters around Dane County for comparison.

We repeated sampling in 2025 and 2026 for Starkweather Creek, the Yahara Lakes and the Madison Metro Sewage District outfall into Badfish Creek. We were please to see some reduction in the Creek, with levels elsewhere staying about the same. We also took a sample of Madison drinking water in 2026, which showed PFAS levels well below standards.

Read all about it on our PFAS Page

Watch the video of our November 19, 2024 Annual Meeting. Highlights include:

Speaker JANICE STARKWEATHER shared her family’s history with the creek back to the 1920’s!

Our active year of native plant restoration work, monthly FUN events and the creeks’ health, including new salt and PFAS monitoring.

Business included a Treasure’s Report, Board member elections, and voting on bylaw changes concerning definition of membership, removing the 2-year officer limit and disbursing our assets should we dissolve the organization.

Thanks to Chris Wales for recording our annual meeting!

I invite all interested in the Starkweather Creek watershed to our monthly board meeting Tues. 1/21 at 7pm at Goodman CC on Waubesa (Street of the Swan). Recent controversies re PFAS pollution and F-35’s have put Starkweather in statewide spotlights. 

I welcome your presence & essence to help heal & honor people & place… synergizing head & heart, inner & outer, self & other, ego & soul, physical & metaphysical.

Carl Landsness
Starkweather native, invasive, prodigal son and Friends of Starkweather Co-Chair

PS I will be available for an hour before and after to answer questions…
or dream new possibilities and paradigms

Draft agenda

ORGANIZATIONAL (Business/Administration)

• Centering and connecting: Carl – 2 min
• Past minutes approval/ plans for future minutes: all – 3 to 5 min
• Treasurer’s report: Doug – 3 min
• Strategic planning report: Dave – 5 to 10 min
• Website/FB/Google Docs/Communication status and plans: Dave/all –  5 to 10 min
• Future meeting format: Dave/Carl/all – 5 to 10 min

COMMUNITY-CREEK CONNECTIONS (Outreach/Education)

• Watershed network report: Lance/Carl – 3 to 5 min
• Solstice report: Paul/all – 5 min
• FUN reports and plans: Paul/James/Carl- 5 to 8 min
• ASH Voit meeting report: Lance – 3 to 5 min
• Stream clearing presentation report: Carl – 3 min
• Wild Ones weed presentation report: Jeff – 3 to 5 min
• Newsletter plans: Theresa – 5 to 8 min
• Safe Skies Clean Water 2/6 forum sponsor? Lance – 5 to 10 min
• Earth Week plans: all – 3 to 6 min 
• Other (events, meetings, monitoring, Wanderers, Garver, Olbrich Gardens, OB Sherry): all – 5 to 10 min

LAND USE & STREAM CORRIDOR (Stewardship)

• Starkweather Woods 1/25 workday plans: Dave – 2 to 3 min 
• Native plantings, invasive removal, grants: Jeff – 3 to 5 min
• City Engineering $5K budget: Lance – 3 min
• Voit plans: Dea/Matt Diebel? – 10 to 15 min
• Chloride study status: Carl – 1 min
• PFAS reports, petitions, film, forums and plans: Lance – 10 to 15 min 

As we heal the watershed, the watershed heals us
As we heal ourselves, we heal the watershed

Carl Landsness (Starkweather native, invasive and Friends of Starkweather Creek co-chair) will facilitate a “shortest day” solstice walk (Sat. 10am at Goodman CC) to explore the pregnantly potent possibilities for new birth that this day represents…including from the dark articles in the WSJ and  Cap Times recently re PFAS in Starkweather:

DNR: High levels of PFAS found in Starkweather Creek, Wisconsin RiverChris Hubbuch | Wisconsin State JournalLevels of two compounds — PFOA and PFOS — were measured at concentrations more than 30 times the safe level se…

Unknown fear: Madison residents are increasingly alarmed by PFAS levels …Steven Elbow | The Capital TimesLance Green has been collecting water samples from Starkweather Creek for years. As a volunteer for the state De…

Carl will invite sharing of reactions to these articles (or related rumors and feelings)…
and explore rebirth possibilities or perspectives…
to co-create something better than had this not occurred…
i.e. hidden gifts and grace disguised as pain and problems. 

This will emerge while walking to stunningly uplifting places (from Goodman CC) on and near the creek (e.g. Olbrich Gardens and FSC canoe launch…
120A04D7 B2E2 473E A550 22DBFE267D69Olbrich magic 1

October winter wonderland 1Two days after warm weather canoe launch
to revere the beauty…
and dream of new birth, beauty and FUN…including a possible paddle Saturday afternoon (if weather, water and whims call)…

12:12 launch 1 of 4 At Starkweather mouth for 4:14 full moonrise

12:12 launch 2 of 4

12:12 launch 3 of 412:12 launch 4 of 4

Carl finds such incredible beauty and magic an intriguing contrast to fear-focused images of Starkweather that many read in the media articles. 
STARK weather? Or stimulating beauty?
Focus on fear? Or faith and FUN (i.e. Friends of Urban Nature fun)?

Meet: Goodman Community Center 10 a.m.

More info: Madison Parks Bird & Nature Outings

Annual membership meeting
Thur. Nov. 7
6:30 to 8:30pm
Goodman CC Brassworks Bldg
214 Waubesa

“Healing & Honoring People & Place”

• Guest speaker: Jojo O’Brian of Madison stormwater engineering
  re collaboration projects with Friends of Starkweather
• FSC report on past and planned projects, issues and opportunities
• Special recognitions
• Board member elections

Light snacks and cider

We had a great annual meeting on October 23rd at the new Goodman Center Brassworks Building. For those who missed it, here is our 2018 Annual Meeting Presentation slideshow of activities.

2018 Annual Meeting Presentation