By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY

Staff Writer

Despite competition from numerous other events, Cleanup Crestline Day, held on Oct. 21, was declared a success by Rick Dinon of the Lake Gregory Yacht Club. The community volunteers collected hundreds of pounds of trash, paper and plastic. It was estimated that 45 percent of the trash was plastic related.

Several unusual items collected included clothes and socks, tarps, books and lots of cigarette butts, which can be dangerous in numerous ways. If still lit when tossed away, they can cause a fire, and they are harmful to the soil, to animals when eaten, and pollute the lake and can kill fish.

The plan was to clean along Lake Drive to Top Town and around the lake. Each person took a short section of the route and returned with filled bags back to Lake Gregory’s North Shore parking lot. This community cleanup has been an annual twice-a-year event, in the spring and in the fall, sponsored by the yacht club.

One family of three cheerfully came from Corona to help in the community clean up. They wore reflective vests, used grabber tongs and walked around the lake, pushing a stroller, and returned happy and with a large bag of trash.

At the check-in location on the North Shore, there were breakfast rolls and pastries, along with bottled water for the almost two dozen volunteers. Trash bags were distributed to all the volunteers, along with gloves, reflective vests, grabber tongs and other protective items for all who volunteered.

Dirk Rinker from the Crestline Chamber of Commerce, one of the event sponsors, was there and wanted to thank the other sponsors – the Lake Gregory Yacht Club, the Lake Gregory Company and Lake Drive Ace Hardware – and, of course, all the volunteers. The area has drastically less litter and trash and is now ready for winter.

It is hoped that now those who drive the streets and walk the trails remember to not litter and to keep the area clean. Snow and rain showers on top of litter washes those items into the storm drains, which lead to the lake and pollute it. The lake is an economic engine for the community, so keeping it and the town clean help the local economy.