The Creek Jam rocks and raises money for watersheds
< < Back toTHE PLAINS, Ohio (WOUB) – For more than 40 years, Jim Miller has been coming to Athens County to play music. Why?
“There’s a lot of hippies here,” said Miller with a laugh. On Saturday, he was at the Eclipse Company Store to play Creek Jam with the Ji’Miller Band. The event raised money for Rural Action’s work to plant trees along the Monday and Sunday Creeks.
“Events like this are really key to … preserving and protecting our water,” said Nathan Schlater, senior director of ecological restoration at Rural Action. Creek Jam has been on hiatus since 2019 but returned this year in a major way. Creek Jam and other events have taken on a bigger role for Rural Action as changes have rocked federal and state funding sources.
“Unrestricted funding events, whether it’s for certain programs or if it’s for the whole org, really helps to fill in those gaps and is really crucial right now,” said Andrea Baird, membership, development and engagement coordinator for Rural Action. Unlike grants, funding from unrestricted sources can go to any aspect of Rural Action’s work, or in the case of Creek Jam, can still be used for a specific project.
Unrestricted funding has become more important for Rural Action as state and federal money has become more difficult to access.
“We’ve had major projects that had federal funding frozen with no end in sight,” said Baird.
Schlater said the organization has been forced to adapt.
“We’ve seen some changes with the H2Ohio program,” said Schlater. “We’ve seen some cuts with that recently, but we’ve also seen some new funders step up.”
Funding for H2Ohio and other state and federal programs has become increasingly uncertain, Schlater said.
“Right now, the funding is continuing to come in to support this type of work,” he said. “But what happens next year or next month? It’s hard to say for sure.”
Miller was thrilled to have his music benefit the group’s work, beginning his performance with a rousing endorsement.
“It’s wonderful,” said Miller. “It’s direly needed down here.”
Originally from Cleveland, Miller has built a community of fans across the Buckeye State and beyond. When he first came to Athens, he played the Blue Gator. Now, he has been playing Brew Week for the past eight years and played the last Creek Jam in 2019.
As a teacher and a musician, Miller treasures the fans and future musicians he has met through his music.
“It’s just really wonderful,” said Miller. “The people I teach, I go to the houses, and I have 70- and 80-year-olds all the way down to 5-year-olds.”
In a similar manner, Rural Action cherishes its members and community.
“The bottom line is, Rural Action is a member-based organization,” said Schlater. “Without support from the community, without support from everyone around, we can’t do this work.”