A team of students from the UO’s Environmental Leadership Program is ready to raise the curtain on the McKenzie River Stories project, an interactive multimedia exhibit that showcases the history of Eugene’s primary water source.

An opening reception hosted by the Lane County Historical Museum will take place Saturday, June 7, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The River Stories team spent more than a year working with the McKenzie River Drift Boat Museum and Lane County Historical Museum to produce and exhibit the project. Its aim is to promote awareness, connection and stewardship of the McKenzie River.

The exhibit will feature stories and recordings of current residents, photography and video footage of the river. It also features accounts of the original McKenzie River drift boat builders, including a whitewater boat made by boat-building icon Woodie Hindman for the Oregon explorer Prince Helfrich.

The team has worked since January 2013 to interview, document and learn from residents of the McKenzie River watershed. The interactive exhibit encourages visitors to share their own river stories and reflect on their personal connection to the McKenzie.

To support the main exhibit and promote awareness, the team will place “River Stories” posters at water fountains and other locations around town where people encounter water from the McKenzie. The exhibit will run from June through December 2014.

―By Chloe Huckins, Public Affairs Communications intern