Submitted by Joe Seebode
All volunteers are invited to celebrate Earth Day with Boy Scout Troop 330, Cub Scout Pack 30, and members of the Rahway River Watershed Association, Rahway Environmental Commission, and Clark Environmental Commission in a clean-up of the Rahway River on Saturday, April 21, 2018, (with a rain date of Sunday, April 22nd). The clean-up will focus on areas upstream and downstream of the dam at Winfield Park, New Jersey. It is our hope to have enough folks participate that we can have teams work as far upstream as the Garden State Parkway and downstream through Rahway River Park in Clark, Linden and Rahway all the way to Elizabeth Avenue.
Plans are to meet at the parking area adjacent to the waterfall of the Rahway River by the dam at Winfield Park at 8:45. This is a great way to celebrate Earth Day and if you haven’t participated in an event like this before, you will find it invigorating, and you will feel good about what you have accomplished…it is also a lot of fun…especially for scouts and young adults as they always find something interesting. This adds both education and adventure to the event.
The clean-up will generally be between 9 a.m. and noon, but any amount of time or effort that folks can volunteer is appreciated. There is always a large volume of floatable debris to pick up. This includes tires and of course floatables (cans, bottles, plastics, etc.). The County of Union generously supplies gloves and garbage bags, and we solicit material donations (donuts, bagels, coffee, bottled water, paper towels, hand-wipes, etc.) for all volunteers.
Last year, nearly 150 folks participated, including Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, fishermen, local activists and citizens, and we pulled some amazing things from the river. Sponsors came through with coffee, bagels, Danish, donuts, cookies, bottled water, and juice boxes, and we had grilled hot dogs for lunch. We also had other giveaways for the participants.
All participants should wear jeans, long-sleeved shirts, gloves and boots, and waders are welcome for folks who like to get a little wet. Each participant should bring a standard five-gallon carry bucket with a handle (put your name on the bottom). This makes for easy carrying of “stuff” for transfer to the large garbage bags. When we complete the event, we do a basic inventory of the “big stuff” that we removed and within approximately 24 hours Union County Parks removes and disposes of all the trash.
There is no RSVP required but if you need more information or think you will attend please let us know by e-mail at rivercleanup@comcast.net
Please do not hesitate to forward or let us know if there are any questions. Hope to see you on April 21!
