Last week when Lois and I paddled this stretch of river we spotted too many cans and bottles, so we decided to do one last Boardman cleanup this season. With September 11 on the horizon, we decided that it would be a good public service project to honor the day. Thirteen others agreed with us and signed up. Those included Bob, Karen, Henry, Steve, Peg, Linda, Tracie, Susan & Gerald, Marv & Marlene, and Fred & Judy.
We staged three cars at Brown Bridge Pond, and launched from the Forks at 1:30 PM. The weather couldn’t have been better, and we had a lot of company on the river as many others were taking advantage of one of our last warm days. We found the usual cans, bottles, and flip-flops, but we had a record haul of full bottles and cans. Marlene took home five full bottles and half a dozen cans of fermented malt beverage. I hesitate to use the word beer because many were Busch, Bud, or Miller Lite. Someone said she found a bottle of champagne too.
Our spear came in really handy to get some old cans (the kind without poptops) off the bottom of the river. We appreciated the advance warning whenever someone spotted them before we arrived on the scene.
At the pond everyone found the channel to open water, and paddled through the stiff westerly breeze to the take out. The total haul was two large garbage bags filled with litter, in addition to several large bags that we dropped off at Scheck's with some campers there. The crowd was hungry and wanted food as soon as possible, so eleven of us went to the buffet at Hunan’s Chinese restaurant. Thanks to everyone who pitched in.
Written by: John Heiam