We are pleased to honor Michelle Blackwood’s generosity in supporting Cahaba River Society with her resources and time for over twenty years. Michelle is President of Friends of Shades Creek, Cahaba River Festival, and Cahaba River Frydown and has worked on behalf of environmental causes for most of her life. 

We talked with Michelle to learn more about her love for the river and why she supports Cahaba River Society. 

Supporting Cahaba River Society with Time and Resources

Michelle has been one of our most consistent volunteers for years. She is a regular participant in river clean-ups, and for several years, she has served as the volunteer coordinator for the Cahaba River Frydown. In this role, she spends countless hours planning tasks and schedules and preparing our volunteers for their roles. Her expertise and generosity with her time have been invaluable in making Frydown a success. Michelle’s volunteer efforts and consistent financial support for Cahaba River Society have been a tremendous help to our efforts to protect and restore the Cahaba River. 

“Supporting Cahaba River Society just came naturally,” said Michelle. “They’ve helped Friends of Shades Creek and so many other organizations across the state over the years. They were instrumental in forming the Alabama Rivers Alliance, which helps different groups work together and support each other. I’ve always felt supporting Cahaba River Society has an impact beyond the organization.” 

A Lifetime of Environmental Service

Michelle has supported Cahaba River Society and other organizations in Birmingham since the 1990s, but her engagement with environmental causes started long before she arrived in Alabama. Growing up on a Kansas farm, she felt connected to the environment, but 1970 was a year that opened her mind to advocacy and environmental causes. She was a high school senior on the debate team when Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed the Clean Air Act. 

“In our debates, we took turns debating both sides of an issue,” said Michelle. “One side would defend the status quo, and the other would argue for change. We had all kinds of information about the status quo, with dirty air, rivers catching fire, and no substantive policies to fix the problem. Then, we were on the way to our debate tournament, and our teacher, Mr. Pew, told us about the creation of the EPA. The status quo changed overnight from doing nothing to having the EPA work to improve things. Our debates were now about strategies for helping the environment rather than whether we should help. That difference made a big impression on me.”

After graduating high school, Michelle moved from her hometown of Kingman, Kansas, with a population of 3,000, to the bustling metropolis of Manhattan (Kansas), where she met her husband, Ken, at Kansas State University. Ken graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and took a public health service job in Sells, Arizona, near Tuscon. 

“After a few years in Arizona, Ken took a job in Muscatine, Iowa. I went to school and worked in a print shop. We were in Iowa for one of the worst winters they had ever experienced. After a cross-country bike trip from Jamestown, Virginia, to Reeds Port, Oregon, Ken got a job offer in Atlanta, and we headed south. We had our kids in Atlanta, but then Ken got a great offer in Birmingham, and we settled in Homewood.”

After arriving in Birmingham, Blackwood’s friend, Tom Forsee, recruited Michelle to volunteer for some causes, but she was busy with young children and the Edgewood Elementary PTO. L

But then, Jim Brown told her the story of the salamanders. 

“My neighbor, Jim Brown, first told me the story of the Spotted Salamander migration near Homewood High School. He said it might be 2 or 3 am, and I said, yes, I want to see this. He called one rainy January night at 3:00 am, and the rest is history. I have been out to see them migrate across the road every year since. After that, our group got involved with efforts to protect the Homewood Forest Preserve next to Homewood High School from development. We worked with Samford University, the Homewood Board of Education, and the city of Homewood for about ten years and  finally got the property protected.”

Michelle was instrumental in founding Friends of Shades Creek, a nonprofit organization working to protect Shades Creek, a tributary of the Cahaba River.

“Cahaba River Society was instrumental in helping us get started. We were just a rag-tag group of 12 to 15 people meeting monthly at  Homewood Public Library for educational meetings. Seeing what the organization has accomplished and how many people love the Salamander Festival is incredible.”  

Michelle worked in marketing at America’s First Federal Credit Union. Sponsors like America’s First have been essential to Cahaba River Society’s efforts. 

“I was proud of America’s First’s community engagement. We did some good things with Cahaba River Society.”  

Thank You, Michelle!

Michelle retired from America’s First six years ago, but she continues to lead Friends of Shades Creek and support Cahaba River Society with her time and resources. We are delighted to honor her tireless efforts to protect and restore the Cahaba River watershed. Thank you, Michelle!