(WSB photos)

As pleasant as it was to gather in warm, dry weather for today’s annual event to call coho home to Fauntleroy Creek, the prevailing hope was for rain to arrive soon. As creek steward Judy Pickens explained it, salmon arriving near the mouth of the creek, south of the Fauntleroy ferry dock, need that flow of fresh water to “sniff out” where to go.

But the weather could change later this week, so the ceremonial call to the salmon – 244 of which showed up last year – proceeded, with songs led by musician and educator Jamie Shilling:

About 30 people participated, many of them children to whom the creek will be entrusted after its longtime stewards are gone.

To encourage new volunteer involvement, Pickens and others who have long cared for the creek offered tributes to two volunteers who have moved on in the past year, Steev Ward and Peggy Cumming. Their achievements were detailed by Pickens and another longtime steward, Dennis Hinton – everything from Ward teaching students about salmon via dissection, to Cumming obtaining a grant to eradicate invasive vegetation. Those acknowledgments segued into suggestions of ways community members can help the creek now:

Attendees of all ages were invited to write down ideas of what they could do:

Then participants were invited to post their ideas on an easel-borne card. Some of what we saw: “Learn about salmon,” “Give respect to all the fish,” “Introduce someone to the creek,” and more-classic ways to volunteer. Starting tomorrow, in fact, some of that will be happening on the creek, as the annual watch for spawners begins, with volunteers taking shifts keeping an eye out for fish. The way was cleared by a group of volunteers who cleared a logjam at the creek’s mouth – which is on private property – earlier this week. If you are interested in getting involved with Fauntleroy Creek – one of the few salmon streams within the city – you can contact the Fauntleroy Watershed Council.