Saturday, September 11, 2010

Assabet River in Maynard with OAR's Forces

Today, instead of conducting one of my usual skirmishes in the war on aquatic debris, I participated in the Organization for the Assabet River's multi-town major offensive.  This was the 24th Annual River Cleanup by this organization and it left me very impressed at just how much can be accomplished in a very short time by many able hands.  Priscilla, the Maynard coordinator, split her forces into 3 groups to target 3 sections of the river that flows through town.  Remembering the tire littered sandbar I saw last month, I decided to work with the contingent that headed in that direction.  With about a dozen sets of hands working simultaneously, those tires didn't stand a chance!  Doug and some others were digging them loose from the muck faster than they could be ferried to the impromptu landing area about 75 yards downstream.  Started by carrying 5 tires per trip (using Mrs. Trashpaddler's borrowed Scupper)...
 Later, was able to get to 6 per trip.  I lost count on both the number of trips and number of tires but am pretty sure the group rounded up between 55 and 60 tires from just this one section of town.
Meanwhile others in the group scoured the area recovering all sorts of stuff the Assabet River will be better off without.  A motley crew of Maynard young people stood near one of the piles they recovered...
 Also working with this contingent was Doug who dug out many a tire today...
After the cleanup, everyone gathered at the Elks parking lot to enjoy some pizza and soda.  T-shirts listing the names of the event's many area sponsors were provided to participants. 
While there the Maynard DPW stopped by to say that their tire-count from all 3 contingents was 88 and there were another 10 or so still to be picked up.  Throw in all sorts of other trash and it made for a satisfying way to spend a sunny Saturday morning in September.  An osprey chirped in his approval before launching from a riverside tree.
Check the OAR web site later for more information about the cleanup's results overall.

1 comment:

Gnome said...

I appreciate all that you are doing to keep our country beautiful.

Thank you.