May 30, 2015 - 11th Annual Boardman River Clean Sweep
Knowing it was going to rain on the big day, a few of us got a jump on the project and paddled the Forks to Schecks and Shumsky to Beitner sections the previous Thursday. The river was gorgeous and pretty clean. In the Forks section we found 3 small bags of trash and in the Shumsky section we found less than one bag of trash.
On Saturday, we had lots of people, lots of boats, lots of enthusiasm plus lots of rain. We abandoned the thought of paddling and headed out to do three projects.
1. Jim Heffner took all the hardcore ODAC kids from Kingsley and headed to the Cass Road pond that had not been cleaned up for 4 years. They did a wonderful job of taking several hundred pounds of trash out of the pond just upstream of the Cass Road Boardman Dam.
Thank you, Donna, for working so hard to get that trash out of the river.
2. Another group started walking the downtown area along the river banks, and they had already gotten a lot of trash when those of us who joined them from upstream arrived. Frank Wall did a great job of coordinating (by radio) the trash pickups and transfers to the trailer at the ramp on Park Street. I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures of the people - but I did get photos of the trash we got.
The Trailer full of downtown trash - Thank you FRANK WALL!
Dumpster at GTCD filled, too.
3. Then we ate.
Jacquie Rossfeld from the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Traverse City stepped up to cook for the first time and she did a great job. She even brought some pulled pork that was gone in minutes.
John Mesch won the STROKES OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Addison Beiver - (not present for photo)
won the H Cox and Son Youth River Stewardship Award - Kayak and Paddle
All our equipment and supplies were returned A-OK
FIRST, I want to thank all the brave and intrepid folks who braved the elements and
once again to show their love of the Boardman River. There is no greater service
that we can do than that service for God's creation.
There are so many sponsors and donors to the BRCS that it is not possible to name them all.
A special THANK YOU goes out to the Great Lakes Commission for their continued funding of this project, With their help, we have made an amazing difference in the health and cleanliness of the Boardman River.
To the Adams Chapter of Trout Unlimited, we extend a THANK YOU for their help from the very beginning of the event. Bill and Julie Fernandez took this to their hearts and helped make this project what it is today.
To the American Canoe Association and LL Bean, a big THANK YOU for their funding, support and encouragement that they have supplied for several years.
Thank you to the DNR who has helped smooth the way for us to continue to have access and use of landings to do our work.
Thank you to the Traverse Area Paddle Club for being so willing to share their web space with us and help encourage volunteers to participate in projects.
Thank you to H. Cox and Son for donating a kayak each of the past 5 years. You have made some young people better for your caring for the environment.
Thank you to American Rivers National River Cleanup program for supplying our groups with thousands of trash bags over the years free of charge. The bags are not only the perfect size for our use, but they are tough and have printing on them that allows us to place them in DNR containers without any hassles.
Thank you to American Waste for getting us the right disposal equipment every time we need it. Thank you Pat Cline and Mark Bevelhymer!
Thank you to the Grand Traverse Conservation District for helping with grants, supplies, equipment, picnic location and storage facilities.
Steve Largent is a RIVER SAINT!
Thank you to my brother Steve Fred, who believed in me and encouraged me to take on the BRCS. His support is very dear to my heart.
We'll chalk this one up as a SUCCESS!!!!
All photos can be found here:
Finish Up Project - Due to Rain Delay
Shumsky to Bietner Cleanup Report
Norm Fred