On Saturday, October 14th, Keep Suffolk Beautiful along with several chapter volunteers, in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup, participated in a Nansemond River cleanup. The event was scheduled for 9:00am until noon. The forecast for rain dampened the volunteer turnout for the event. The forecasted rain finally did arrive resulting in the event being cut short by about half an hour.
In spite of the rain and lower than normal volunteer participation, 7 volunteers (5-chapter members) managed to collect 19 bags of trash, 3 shopping carts, 2 tires an ice chest and other miscellaneous debris. The event was coordinated by our Chapter’s Save Our Streams committee chair Sam Chambers (pictured above) with assistance from his wife Awilda (pictured below).
As a result of COVID-19 and a rain cancellation, the chapter has not completed a river cleanup for almost two years. As a result, trash and debris have once again built up along various areas of the river. Trash tends to accumulate along the edges of the riparian buffer next to parking lots and behind businesses on North Main Street. If the trash is not picked up it slowly begins to make its way further into the tree line and down the slopes towards the river itself. The pictures below show an area along a parking lot and a few feet inside the tree line.
A thank you is due to those additional members who, despite the weather, contributed to the effort. Pictured below from left to right are Mike Lane, Tim Doxey and Jonathan Echols. At least these 19 bags of trash won’t make it to the river.
