15th annual River Sweep a smashing success

RiverSweep has become a community event, even a family tradition. Ninety-six volunteers turned out in Springfield.
http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/15th-annual-river-sweep-smashing-success

15th Annual River Sweep a Smashing Success Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 09/16/2014 - 3:14pm SPRINGFIELD, VT -The first time that Kelly Stettner cleaned up the Black River, the year was 2000. She had two co-workers, her husband, and their toddler daughter helping out on the riverbank behind the Springfield Shopping Plaza. In a few hours, they managed to fish out a dozen shopping carts, a handful of tires, and some bags of assorted trash. Fast-forward to present-day: RiverSweep has become a community event, even a family tradition. Ninety-six volunteers turned out in Springfield alone; a dozen more signed up to walk the streambanks and riverbed in Ludlow and Cavendish, a few miles up-river. Starting at 8am on a muggy Saturday morning, people began arriving at the HQ tables in Ludlow and Springfield -- they signed in, collected work-gloves and trash bags (provided by the CT River Watershed Council), and picked a place to search for garbage. In Springfield: By 7:30a.m., Jenna Young-Starr and Kari Storm were at the sign-up table under the protection of the Citizens Bank drive-up, the traditional HQ for the Springfield Sweep. The SHS football team checked in with their coaches and with Jen Wasyliko, who handles community service hours for the high school. They then headed out to a forested riverbank path behind the football field at Riverside Middle School. Members of the Springfield Rotary Club, Cub Scout Pack 238, Boy Scout Packs 252 and 258, and many members of the surrounding community geared up and hit the river -- from North Springfield all the way to the mouth of the Black River at Hoyt's Landing. A five-person "brigade" worked the 2-mile stretch from the Paddock Road Bridge down to Hoyt's Landing, using a canoe, a barge, a small fishing boat, and a home-made "canoemaran" to wrestle tires from the bed of the river. Two high school students even submerged and went swimming to collect trash from hard-to-reach areas. A trio of women ventured to a secluded swimming spot to see what they could collect; they returned bearing over 200 pounds of metal in the trunk of one car, three tires and a big clay pipe in the trunk of the other. Two ladies launched the BRAT's "trash barge" (an old aluminum canoe) from its home at the Springfield Transfer Station, collecting a wide array of garbage along the way down to the Plaza, from tires to a large, heavy metal ring, from unopened beer cans to one soggy sneaker. Another gentleman also worked from the water, launching his own green kayak from North Springfield and collecting almost everything he saw..."The banks were pretty clean," he reported, but he had to leave behind a couple of tires and a refrigerator door, which would've swamped his kayak. Riverside parks, parking lots, roadsides, and even the Park-and-Ride were all targeted and cleaned by volunteers of all ages. They returned with their haul around 11AM to clean up, collect their free BRAT tee shirts, and enjoy a grilled hot dog, courtesy of Young's Furniture and Appliance. Kari was tallying trash and helping Jenna with the hot dogs while local musician Aaron Weinstein led the first-ever BRAT Junk Jam -- kids helped create makeshift musical instruments from some of the trash collected, including shopping carts, old boards, tires, and cans and bottles. As Barbara says, "Canoeing into the Plaza with the rhythm band playing was so fun!" The press was covering the event, from local and area newspapers to Springfield Area Public Access television. Even the local radio station, WCFR, was broadcasting live for a couple of hours. Jan Lambert of the Valley Green Journal was on hand with her Rolling Resource Center, offering a variety of river bugs and viewing devices to entertain and educate kids as well as adults. As the hot dogs dwindled and the volunteers began saying their goodbyes, the junk was loaded into a truck from Youngs for the first of many trips to the transfer station and to the Plaza dumpsters. As the event wrapped up, the final work-crew arrived -- the Tire Brigade. Just five people managed to haul 47 tires up from the muck, down to Hoyt's Landing, into two pickup trucks, and back to the Plaza in just 4-1/2 hours. A local elementary school teacher took a couple of her young students to clean the banks below the waterfall in the center of town; another pair of ladies removed trash from a local river-side greenspace, then headed to Clinton Street to find and clear garbage. Even the local Park & Ride was tackled, netting trash that blows in and items that are deliberately dumped. In Ludlow: Chester resident and veteran BRAT Robin Reilly once again set up the HQ table in the gazebo on the town green, ready for volunteers by 8am. Although not as large a turnout, the volunteers in Ludlow and Cavendish were just as eager and determined! A gentleman drove from Claremont NH to help, and to load his trailer with junk to deliver to the Ludlow Transfer Station. Members of the Mt Laurel Ski Club joined forces to wade through Jewell Brook from Dorsey Park. One woman single-handedly tackled the back of the Ludlow Shopping Plaza, leaving behind only what she couldn't "drag out and carry" -- a couple of large pipes and a shopping cart, firmly embedded in the riverbed. An estimated 200 pounds of trash was collected by a determined dozen volunteers! They returned to the HQ table to deposit their junk, collect a BRAT shirt, and head off to Goodman's American Pie for a free slice of cheese pizza...the Goodmans' "thank you" for the hours of hard work. The 2015 RiverSweep is scheduled for Saturday, September 12 -- mark your calendar now, and let's double the number of volunteers in Ludlow and Cavendish! Roadsides and parking lots, greenspaces and parks, people from ages 3 to 77 roamed miles of shoreline and riverbed to tidy and neaten, working to keep trash out of the Black River. RiverSweep happens every year thanks to an army of volunteers and with the support of many local and area businesses and organizations; our sincere thanks goes out to each and every one of them (in alphabetical order): Black River Produce, Cavendish Recreation Dept, CT River Watershed Council, Deep River Snacks, Dr. Chris Fauver DDS, Funding Factory, Golden Stage Inn, Goodman's American Pie, Holiday Inn Express of Springfield, IMERYS, Ink Factory Clothing Co, Ken Saccardo, Ludlow Dept of Parks & Rec, Ludlow and Springfield Transfer Stations, Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District, Pete's Pharmacy, Shaw's of Ludlow and of Springfield, Springfield Moose Lodge #679, Trout Unlimited - Upper Valley Chapter, Valley Green Journal, VFW Post #771, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and the amazing Young's Furniture & Appliance. One woman single-handedly tackled the back of the Ludlow Shopping Plaza, leaving behind only what she couldn't "drag out and carry" -- a couple of large pipes and a shopping cart, firmly embedded in the riverbed. An estimated 200 pounds of trash was collected by a determined dozen volunteers! They returned to the HQ table to deposit their junk, collect a BRAT shirt, and head off to Goodman's American Pie for a free slice of cheese pizza...the Goodmans' "thank you" for the hours of hard work. The 2015 RiverSweep is scheduled for Saturday, September 12 -- mark your calendar now, and let's double the number of volunteers in Ludlow and Cavendish! Roadsides and parking lots, greenspaces and parks, people from ages 3 to 77 roamed miles of shoreline and riverbed to tidy and neaten, working to keep trash out of the Black River. RiverSweep happens every year thanks to an army of volunteers and with the support of many local and area businesses and organizations; our sincere thanks goes out to each and every one of them (in alphabetical order): Black River Produce, Cavendish Recreation Dept, CT River Watershed Council, Deep River Snacks, Dr. Chris Fauver DDS, Funding Factory, Golden Stage Inn, Goodman's American Pie, Holiday Inn Express of Springfield, IMERYS, Ink Factory Clothing Co, Ken Saccardo, Ludlow Dept of Parks & Rec, Ludlow and Springfield Transfer Stations, Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District, Pete's Pharmacy, Shaw's of Ludlow and of Springfield, Springfield Moose Lodge #679, Trout Unlimited - Upper Valley Chapter, Valley Green Journal, VFW Post #771, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and the amazing Young's Furniture & Appliance.