By Douglas W. Motley
Senior Writer
The sun was shining as volunteers from all over the Crestline and Cedarpines Park communities came to the lake for Community Cleanup Day on Saturday, May 2.
The volunteers met at the North Shore parking lot of Lake Gregory to get pick-up grabbers and yellow safety vests. They were greeted with donuts coffee and the smiling face of Rick Dinon, who organizes this twice-yearly shore and community cleanup day, as a former commodore of the Lake Gregory Yacht Club.
With support from the Crestline Chamber of Commerce, the Lake Gregory Company, the Lake Gregory Yacht Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and numerous other organizations and individuals, a large dent was made in the litter and trash that winter left and lots of litter from unthinking people who had left it behind in the area. The most common items picked up were cigarette butts, water bottle caps and paper scraps.
In total, 18 adult volunteers participated. Most were local, although some years vacationers and families have joined in the cleanup. The trails around Lake Gregory had several groups of volunteers walking around the lake, picking up everything non-natural they saw. Both the top trail next to the roadway and the lower trails next to the water were walked and cleaned. Those cleaning the lower trail close to the lake reported many fishing lures, likely due to the recent fishing derby. The upper trail had lots of food trash from fast food places and cigarette butts and items possibly thrown from or blowing out of vehicles.
Some of the community members who volunteered at Community Cleanup Day.
Volunteers also cleaned Lake Gregory Village along Lake Drive from the Shell station to the lake. A lot of litter and cigarette butts were collected along that main stretch of roadway. But it is very clear that some very responsible shop keepers are also keeping the sidewalk areas in fronts of their businesses picked up. Where no business is located is where the trash was more extensive this year. The Crest Forest business district in Top Town will have to wait for the fall for this bi-annual cleanup since there were not enough volunteers to send to that part of town this day.
A total of 22 large garbage bags of trash were collected and brought back to the North Shore parking lot area, weighing a total of approximately 330 pounds. One person even brought in three bags of items and a couple of volunteers even dropped their bags in the lake’s trash containers, about halfway around the lake, rather than carrying them back to the parking lot.
About 50 percent of the trash was plastic, 40 percent was paper and the 10 percent remaining were other items. The most unusual thing picked up was a bong (although the person who found it thought it was a cup) near the Crestline library.
Local VFW Post 9624 brought members of both the chapter and their Auxiliary to this cleanup. Representatives from the Friends of the Library were cleaning around their area, and members of Leisure Shores came to the Community Cleanup Day since their grounds were cleaned recently during Rebuilding Day.
Previously, the Lake Gregory Company sponsored a “Paddle to Untangle” event in their kayaks to clear fishing line and other debris from the water’s edge. Tangled lines can be dangerous to the wildlife of the area, including birds and ducks, as well as the fish and other animals, because the lines can tangle up their legs and lead to unfortunate deaths, as they may become prey or drown.
Everyone thanked Goodwin and Sons Market for the delicious donuts, water and coffee they supplied and Lake Hardware, who supplied the clean-up equipment and other items. It was a true community effort and the result was immediately obvious.
“A big thank you from the Lake Gregory Yacht Club to all the volunteers,” Dinon said.
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